Republic: Into The Fire
by Sati James
Summary: 2nd LLTR James Koren leads an expedition from Corellia to our galaxy and when he meets the Goa’uld the Republic prepares for battle. On Earth the Tau’ri begin their rise to power and alien life is disclosed. Daniel/Sha’re Atton/Janet Sam/Martouf
1. The Long Road Home

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualise. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

The differences between my Supergate and the one seen in the series can be assumed to be because this is an original Lantian Supergate not an Ori one

The current breakdown of the Star Wars galaxy is this:

Yuuzhan Vong Territory = 1%

Chiss Ascendancy = 10%

Imperial Remnant = 10%

Galactic Republic of Planets = 34%

Galactic Alliance = 45%

* * *

**Chapter 1 The Long Road Home**

**Republic Citadel – Polaris **

The Parliamentary Republic Security Council Committee was one of the most powerful committees of the Parliament which was good because the body it acted as a leash for was the most powerful in the GRP. Under the constitution of the Galactic Republic of Planets the Security Council controlled the Foreign Office, the Intelligence Directorate and all Republic military forces and so to provide a democratic safeguard the Parliament had to approve the amount of money that they would give the Security Council to carry out its role. The PRSC Committee was the body responsible for this and currently the 6 General Assembly and 4 Landsraad members of the committee were not happy

"¬12,000.00 for an arc welder, ¬300.00 for a light strip, ¬832,475.23 on miscellaneous items in one day! They go to far!" The first member exclaimed

"At the rate they are spending Denari the budget will be in negative figures long before the end of the financial year. What I do not understand is why they are doing this" the second replied

"Is it not obvious?" One of the Landsraad members, a former Peacekeeper Disruptor answered "They are paying the proper price for these items and using the extra money recorded to fund the secret projects"

"But why?" another asked "As soon as the Yuuzhan Vong war ended all secret projects had their budgets halved, why now, four months later, has the Security Council not only returned the funding to its original level but quadrupled it as well?"

"They have only done so for one project" another stated "But they did it after this report from the Intelligence Directorate"

"A level Omicron level report?" The former Disruptor questioned. Omicron was the second highest classification level and those who had that level of access were very limited. Only level Omega was higher and information that classified could only be accessed by the 12 members of the Security Council.

"It was slipped in amongst the rest of the report" he replied "I guess they didn't want anyone to know that we had noticed it"

"Notice that the Galactic Alliance has commissioned two more Executor Class Super Star Destroyers?" The first questioned "Of course the GA knows we've noticed, they announced it on the holonet as they disguise their desire for conquest with patriotism"

"Yes why would the commissioning of two more Executors to the dozens they already field concern the council so much?" the second asked

"No.. look at the figures…" another said with growing horror "there is far to much material for a deuce of Executors, their building something much bigger…"

"Impossible!" the first exclaimed "They wouldn't dare build an Eclipse SSD, the only one in existence served as Palpatines personal flagship. Not even the GA could sell the construction of one of those monsters to their people"

"No. But they might just be able to sell a deuce of Sovereign SSDs"*

The committee sat horror struck as the Galactic Alliances plan became clear

"They plan to completely destroy us" one said softly "They don't need Sovereigns to reclaim their former planets, they serve only one purpose, to crack the crusts of rebellious planets and destroy their will to fight"

"Authorise the increase in expenditure" The first whispered "Whatever Project Arcturus is we are going to need it"

* * *

**Corellia – CorSec System Command**

Officer Piers Morton was having a rather quiet shift in the Corellian Security Forces, or CorSec, sensor net control room. "Maybe I'll enlist in the new Corellian Fleet" he thought "The GRP does let the member worlds have their own militaries after all and gives them full autonomy in their home sectors. Maybe being a member world won't be so bad, I've always thought that Corellia should be independent but I'm not stupid enough to think that we would last more than 5 seconds on our own with the way things are at the moment."

The way things were at the moment was unfortunately a galaxy wide cold war. It was barely six months after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war but already the Galactic Alliance, the successor of the New Republic, was making very disconcerting noises about the Galactic Republic of Planets. After the war ended the Empire and the Chiss were powerful but could not hope to challenge the GRP or the GA who controlled the majority of the galaxy. The GA was still the largest with 45% of the galaxy under their control and the largest fleet as well. The fact that their territory had shrunk so drastically also allowed them to concentrate this massive fleet into very large groups that vastly outnumbered any fleets that anyone else could field. Against this the GRP had almost doubled in size while its fleet had shrunk due to the strains of war, though it controlled 34% of the galaxy its fleet was much smaller than that size would indicate. The only thing that had kept the GA from turning on them at the end of the war was the technological advantage that the GRP enjoyed in almost all areas, with the notable exception of capitol ship shields, and the fact that the Republic controlled Thyferra. With Bacta production firmly in the Republics hands and Mannan, one of the very few independent worlds left, supplying Kolto to both sides the Republic could negate the Alliances numbers on the ground with a much higher survivability rate for its troops keeping experienced members in the battle.

Officer Morton tracked a suspicious looking ship heading for the Corellian Shipyards and flagged it to be boarded and inspected. With the shipyards at Vasuda, Fondor and Corellia under Republic control the GRP had embarked on a massive shipbuilding programme to bring the Peacekeeper Armada back up to where it should be and this had attracted a lot of smugglers looking to steal the tech being incorporated into the ships. "Unfortunately" Officer Morton thought as he watched a new Icestorm class light cruiser, _Gorgon, _clear the yards "The Alliance still controls the shipyards at Kuat, Bilbringi and Mon Calamari and are matching us ship for ship to keep their numerical advantage.

He turned to the holoscreen and tuned into Interstellar Network News in an effort to distract himself from the tense standoff that the galaxy found itself in

"And the Presidential election in the Galactic Alliance continues today with several candidates vying for the position. Citizens will be pleased to know that the firebrand Morgan Clark, who based his entire campaign on an immediate war to reclaim what he calls 'the stolen systems that the treacherous GRP lured away from their rightful government', has already fallen behind in the polls. Several protests have been staged in recent weeks on most of the planets in question declaring their voluntary loyalty to the Republic and that they alone decide who their 'rightful government' is. Hopefully this failure of senator Clarke's presidential bid will help to ease tensions along our borders. Xavier Montoya is currently in the lead and we will be bringing you more updates on this later. In related news the protests in Theed, capitol city of the Galactic Alliance planet of Naboo, have entered their third week and are becoming ever larger. The protesters are against the high rebuilding taxes that the Galactic Alliance Senate has imposed on all its member worlds to rebuild the core worlds devastated by the Yuuzhan Vong. The protestors believe that if they want to bring completely dead Core and Colony worlds back to life rather than the much cheaper option of colonising new ones in the Mid and Outer Rims then the inner worlds should pay for it and not bleed the outer worlds dry. So far the GA Senate has made no official response except to say that they are considering all options. The appointment of Jacen Solo to head of Galactic Alliance Intelligence has…"

Piers turned off the holoscreen and sighed. It just kept getting worse. Even though the relatively moderate Xavier Montoya had never specifically stated that he wished war with the Republic he had been the driving force behind the GA's massive fleet expansion and supply base build up on the frontier worlds. Anyone with military training could add two and two and discover what that meant and with the independently minded worlds like Naboo becoming restless as the Galactic Alliance became more authoritarian by the day it was only a matter of time before something, probably a system leaving the GA for the GRP, set the entire galaxy on fire, again. "The appointment of Jacen Solo to head of intelligence will probably only escalate matters" he mused "He's a loose cannon that sees every disagreement as an act of rebellion. Even the Astarii assigned to CorSec get nervous whenever he is mentioned and they are usually very good judges of character. Nope the whole galaxy is going to hell in a hand basket and I don't know if we can win this time"

He snapped back to the display as every alarm in the building went off as a massive power signature suddenly lit up near the area where Centrepoint Station had been. "This will end badly" he thought

* * *

**CorSec Corellian Corvette **_**You Can't Run –**_ **On approach to unknown artefact**

Colonel Richard Domi looked out impassively at the artefact that his ship had been sent to investigate. A giant ring 1.2km in diameter with a command centre and power source located in the large key stone like section at the top of the ring. It did not look very impressive in anything much but its size, but the reports of a massive fountain of water followed by what looked like a stable pool of water forming in the ring before it shut down told otherwise. He hoped that the science and security team CorSec had provided would be able to deal with it without calling for Republic aid but a deep feeling in his gut told him that everything was about to change.

* * *

**Kailua Galaxy Supergate **

As the corvette lined up with what appeared to be a docking collar the expedition members were clambering into their hazard suits. Approaching the door that had, through luck or design, been similar enough to jury rig a connection to they were surprised to see it open upon their approach. Carefully they entered into the dark corridors and the unknown.

Academedician Prokur Zakarof looked around the command centre that he and the team had entered. Everywhere the corridors and windows followed geometric shapes and were constructed out of the same silver and copper coloured materials. Several team members had approached a flashing icon on what appeared to be a crystal based command console but nothing had happened, moving closer for a closer look Zakarof reached out and then promptly leaped back in shock when a very lifelike hologram appeared in front of him

"Greetings" it said "My name is Hippofulralkis and there is much that I have to tell you…"

* * *

**Republic Citadel – Security Council Chambers**

Supreme Chancellor Padme Amidala Skywalker entered the room as the doors sealed behind her. Having been elected just after the start of the Yuuzhan Vong war she was now coming to the end of her 4th year in office. As the constitution stated that the Supreme Chancellor served for a single 10 year term with no re-election she would be in power for some time to come and for that James Koren was very grateful. "After all" he thought "There are few amongst us who hold as true to the Republics ideals as Padme does and at the same time she is absolutely dependable in a crisis and while not afraid to use force if it is required it is never the first option she turns to. No there is no one better to lead us through this crisis and the many more that are to come."

"Now that we are all here" Chancellor Amidala said "Could we have the latest report on the artefact?"

James stood up "As everyone here knows" he began "The construct known as the Corellian Supergate is 120,000 year old artefact built by the Alteran race who constructed the Corellian star system and seeded humans across the core worlds. It is essentially a matter energy converter designed to disassemble whatever enters it and send it through a wormhole to another supergate where the energy is reintegrated. This process is virtually instant and can cross the gulf between galaxies if enough power is provided."

"Does it actually work?" Dukhat asked "and if it does how long can we power it for?"

"Council Master Skywalker, Master Bao Dur and several eminent engineers all say that while exactly how it works escapes them it does work" James responded "As to how long we can power it it's power core is an artificial singularity and so will last indefinitely"

"Why do the Astarii have such a large presence at the artefact?" one of the new member races, the Nebari asked

"Because it seems that the technology is programmed only to respond to someone who is force sensitive." James replied "It appears that the force sensitivity gene was present in the entire Alteran population but only to a small degree. As they never found anyone else with that gene they used it to make sure that no one but themselves could operate their technology and that has had the result that most of the important systems will only respond to a force sensitive and as most force sensitives in the Republic are Astarii" James trailed off and shrugged

"What happened to the Alterans?" Padme questioned to break the silence

"The recording of an Alteran general, Hippofulralkis, stated that they pulled out of this galaxy and their original home galaxy to combat an enemy in the third galaxy that they inhabited. As they did not return it is safe to assume that they lost." James answered "However before we decide to destroy the ring we do know that the supergate leads to their home galaxy not the enemy occupied one"

"Does it make a difference?" the Dilgar Sha'dur asked "With war with the Galactic Alliance only a matter of time can we afford to leap into the unknown and face perhaps a war on two fronts?"

"Is war with the Alliance truly inevitable?" the Nebari representative questioned

"Unfortunately we see no other outcome" Dukhat replied "Since before the Yuuzhan Vong war ended the Galactic Alliance has constantly screamed for the systems that joined us in the conflict to be returned to them as they truly believe that they are the rightful rulers of those systems. The only reason they haven't attacked yet because although the Peacekeeper High Command predicts total defeat for the Republic in six months they also predict that we will take 60%-80% of the Alliance military with us and that is a death toll that their citizens will not stomach so soon after the Yuuzhan Vong war. Make no mistake though, the High Command, the Intelligence Directorate and our embassy to the Galactic Alliance all agree that it is only a matter of time before their resentment of us outweighs their fear of casualties and they declare war.

"And if that isn't enough" Sha'dur continued "Our Astarii friends have been warning that they have been getting very dark visions involving the Galactic Alliance, mostly revolving around a red lightsaber and a name, Cadeus. It doesn't matter whether the Astarii are truly clairvoyant or if they have such an extensive intelligence network that it makes no difference the fact remains that when the Astarii put their collective hand in the air and say 'we have an ominous feeling of impending doom' they have a 100% success rate."

"That fact alone practically grantees war" Padme interjected "The Sith and the Jedi are united only by their hatred of the Astarii. Whether the Alliance is influenced by the Jedi or controlled by the Sith eventually they will move against the Astarii. Once they do it will be all out war, the Astarii have protected this Republic since before its founding, they deserve nothing less than our full support in return"

"Though I have my reservations about the amount of influence the Astarii have I concede the point" the Nebari representative said tentatively as if he feared being screamed at for daring to criticize the Guardians of the Republic

"I take no offence" James replied "If everyone trusted us implicitly then we would soon go the way of the Jedi succumbing to arrogance and belief in our own superiority. It is in everyone's best interest to maintain an honourable and civilised opposition to ensure debate and keep every individual organisations power in check."

The Nebari representative nodded respectfully to James inwardly moving the Grand Master up several notches on his respect gauge. Most would strive for all the power they could get and not encourage opposition to themselves just as the Nebari government had done for centuries in the dark times. That the Astarii themselves were discomforted by the amount of influence and power they wielded went some way to alleviating the deep seated fear all of his race had for authority after their own government turned on them using brainwashing techniques to force conformity "I repeat Sha'dur's question though" he spoke strongly, less afraid of being shouted down by the permanent members after the previous interaction "If war with the Alliance is inevitable can we afford to send chunks of our fleet off into the unknown?

There was silence around the table as the members pondered their responses

"It is the Astarii's opinion that the potential benefits are worth the risks" James replied after a while "There is little to be learned from the supergate itself as it is just an oversized door and harnessing artificial singularities is completely beyond us but any race advanced enough to build it would have to be extremely powerful and they would have left remnants behind. Even a little of their technology would tilt the balance of power back in our favour."

"Agreed" Dukhat said "however we cannot afford to send any of the Peacekeeper Armada through, the Alliance would see it as weakness and it would increase the likelihood that they will strike"

"Who do we send to explore this new galaxy then?" Sha'dur queried

"If we will not send any ships of the main fleets the only significant force left is the Astarii Battle Group" Padme observed

Several centuries after the Republics founding the Peacekeeper High Command finally got fed up of the Astarii Order constantly requisitioning ships and decided to simply place an entire battle group under their command permanently. This allowed the Astarii to attend to their duties in ships that were actually capable of carrying out the missions required without making the sector commands tear their hair out over the destroyed leave, upgrade, repair and re-supply schedules. The 501st Peacekeeper Legion was also placed under Astarii command by the Grand Army of the Republic for the same reasons. This gave the Astarii far more military punch than the Jedi of the old republic had ever had and it had allowed them to do their jobs to a much higher standard and much more efficiently.

"As much as they hate us the Alliance has always underestimated us" James replied "having the Astarii Battle Group disappear will concern them far less than portions of the Strike Fleets going missing"

"Your forces are rather small though" Sha'dur noted "3 Vengeance Command Carriers, 48 Firestorm Heavy Cruisers, 192 Icestorm Cruisers, 594 Hurricane Frigates and 12 Acclamator class assault ships to transport the men, armour and equipment of the 501st. Will that be sufficient if we meet any enemies on the other side?"

"Not for a full scale war" Dukhat allowed "But in that case we can write off that galaxy and seal the supergate before turning for some other way to address the balance of power."

"To say nothing of the fact that no one will know of our existence in that galaxy" James added "They will have no way of knowing that the rest of the fleet cannot come to our aid which may keep any war limited to small skirmishes and border strikes"

"Both astute points" The Nebari representative agreed "But the deployment of the entire battle group will severely reduce the Astarii presence here and may encourage the more undesirable elements of society to step up their operations"

"On the other hand the reduced Astarii presence may lessen tensions with the Galactic Alliance, at least for a little while" Padme mused "And if the technology we desire does respond only to force sensitives the Astarii are the logical group to send"

The debate went on for several more hours before a consensus was reached.

* * *

**Andromeda Military Complex – Polaris**

James Koren had been watching the 501st Peacekeeper Legion board the Acclamator Assault Ships for some time. The Grand Army of the Republic used the same style of armour as the clone troopers of the old republic did upon its fall. The black flexi layer was made of traditional Kevlar and cortosis weave to protect against both energy and physical strikes but the best enhancement was the nanotech gel layer in the centre of the weave. A thick treacle like liquid it crystallized when energy, either electric or kinetic was applied absorbing vast amounts of energy meaning that even on the weak fibre sections it took at least two direct hits from energy weapons to breach the armour giving Republic soldiers much higher survivability than any others although it meant that the gel layer had to be strained and topped up after each battle.

The plastisteel plates were blood red instead of white and the shoulder pads, helmet streak and chest plate streaks had also changed colour. Now gold streaks and shoulder pads indicated a squad commander, black the standard and heavy troopers and the space marines, bronze the jet troopers and snipers, and blue the engineers and pilots. The helmets also relayed information by a heads up display in the goggles and allowed the wearer to zoom and see in multiple light spectrums including inferred. The name and armour design had been based on the old republics clone troopers to show that the GRP had taken up the torch of democracy and hope when the old republic fell, the colour changes to show that they were still Peacekeepers and a lot was going to change.

"The Acclamators look quite good with their command tower removed don't they?" Council Master Anakin Skywalker asked as he came to stand at James Koren's shoulder

"Yes their dagger shape makes for an excellent quick orbital insertion and invasion ship as does their large troop and armour carrying capacity" James replied "They are a complete liability in space combat though, but then you didn't come here to discuss our military hardware"

"Correct" Anakin said softly "I came to ask if you were totally insane"

"Well it depends on who you ask" James teased

"I'm serious" Anakin replied a slight note of panic creeping into his voice "You can't leave me in charge of the entire Astarii Order, I mean look what happened last time"

"You've come a long way since then" James said turning to face him "and you were elected to the permanent council seat when Bylar Crais was killed in the Yuuzhan Vong war. That should show you how much faith the order as a whole has in you."

"I still don't think I'm ready" Anakin said fearfully "Why me?"

"Because of the fact that you even ask that question" James answered "It is true that you need to seek leadership to be good at it but the ones that feel there is always more to learn before they assume it are often the best leaders. Those that are perfectly confident in their abilities and believe that they are being held back usually lead their people to disaster"

Anakin hung his head remembering how many times he had thought that in his youth. He was wiser now but he still didn't feel ready to lead the entire order

"You will do fine" James said as they both turned to walk towards the lead Command Carrier "The rest of the council apart from myself and Atton is staying and they will help guide you, to say nothing of your wife and two children all of whom are intelligent and experienced and will give you the benefit of their opinions. Besides, I have absolute faith in your abilities" the last was said with a slight smile on his face

Anakin stopped dead "Well that's a hell of a thing to tell someone" he said grinning as he hurried to catch up with his friend

* * *

**Command Carrier **_**Repulse**_** – Corellia **

It was a good thing, James mused, that the supergate was so large other wise the three Rs, _Renegade_, _Repulse_ and _Reliant,_ would have had to be left behind. As the Command Carriers were 6km long, 1km wide and 1km high they would have to go through in singe file with the other ships following in groups behind. Named because the Astarii Order had been founded by a Jedi renegade, had repulsed all opposition and had been relied upon by the GRP since its founding the Command Carriers of the Astarii Battle Group always bore these names.

Jha'dur stood next to him watching the event horizon draw closer. James had successfully argued that if he was to be sent through with so few ships then he needed a military commander who could make the best out of them. The vote had been close but he had succeeded when the Nebari representative pointed out that he could not command all parts of the expedition personally and having a non Astarii viewpoint in addition to General Corazon Santiago's would only be beneficial.

Both held their breaths as _Repulse _entered the event horizon carrying with it the hopes of a nation and the promise of freedom for a galaxy enslaved

* * *

*The Sovereign Class Super Star Destroyer was designed as an intermediary step between the Executor and Eclipse classes. A Google search is best for this but I will be 'sexing up' the Sovereigns stats as the official ones make it weaker than an Executor. Not something a super weapon obsessed Emperor Palpatine would have stood for I think. That is for later however

Reviewing takes 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself


	2. The Wrath of the Gods

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualise. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

* * *

Ok As the Goa'uld are stated to control the majority of the galaxy that would mean their planets number in the low millions. However as they are limited to the Stargate network that number can be reduced to a few hundred thousand or 10s of thousands bare minimum. This would put their fleet numbers in the hundreds of thousands or millions and this is kind of supported in cannon when Selmak says 'these red dots are Goa'uld ships in one small area of this galaxy' and there are dozens of dots on the screen. The series skirts around this as having several hundred Ha'tak show up would end the show pretty quick. Fleet numbers can be lowered further to low hundreds of thousands by the fact that the Goa'uld are a feudal society with medieval industry. Only Sokar had industrialized shipyards and he had enough power to take on the entire System Lord Collective

My figures for the standard Ha'tak stats came from the Stargate wiki

http:// Stargate . wikia . com

* * *

**Chapter 2 The Wrath of the Gods**

**Republic Citadel – Polaris**

Grand Master James Koren attended his last Security Council meeting for some time in hologram form. The supergate could not be activated to often or the GA would notice and put more effort into discovering the fate of the expedition.

Currently Sha'dur was outlining their proposal. Sha'dur and James lead the more military voting block on the Security Council which, put him at odds with the more pacifist block with Padme Amidala leading the moderates

"The threat is real and immediate" Sha'dur reiterated "The Galactic Alliance continues to commission new warships, to build up its staging areas and to press us to hand over vast swaths of our territory to their control. We cannot out build them with ships and we have already ordered the team working on Project Arcturus to produce an additional four prototypes and complete the current one as fast as possible but this is not enough. Our response must be as grand and decisive as the threat we face"

"Our plan" James took over "Is to map every single invasion corridor that the GA could possibly use to attack us. Then we turn key planets into fortress worlds with the new Fury defence platforms and Indomitable starbases, able to produce enough supplies to withstand decade long sieges placed in the perfect position to halt direct attacks and cut the supply lines of indirect ones. If my expedition is unsuccessful or the GA attacks before we can provide any advances then this will be our contingency plan, we will hunker down behind the defences of these fortress planets. We WILL make occupation impossible for them dragging the war out beyond their capacity to fight it."

"Their superior numbers will be smashed upon our defences" Sha'dur said with a predatory smile "If they dare attack us we will bleed them dry"

* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy – Kaitain**

Ever since the Astarii Battle Group had exited the Supergate several months ago it had been busy setting up a staging area in the system that was now known as Kaitain. Shipments from the GRP back in the Kailua galaxy had stopped as soon as possible so as not to attract to much Galactic Alliance attention and the resources sent were used to create the necessary infrastructure and cities to support the expedition with everybody chipping in with the construction process which finally resulted in a fully industrialised planet with multiple cities and a population of 1 Billion.

Now the three commanding officers, Grand Master James Koren in civilian and overall command, Admiral Jha'dur, who had stepped down as Warmaster of the Peacekeeper Armada to accompany them, commanding all space forces and General Corazon Santiago commanding all ground forces had agreed that the system was secure enough to begin scouting the local area with one or two ships sent further a field. They hoped to find remnants of the Lantians, or Alterans as Hippofulralkis said they had called themselves when they resided here, or local species open to diplomacy and trade.

When a single heavily damaged frigate came out of light speed on the edge of the system venting atmosphere and screaming mayday across all frequencies the entire expedition knew that they were in for a rough ride.

* * *

**Two days earlier**

Colonel Caleb Danvers paced the C&C of his Hurricane class escort frigate, _PKF Covenant_, as the scouting group entered the edge of the latest system on their exploration list. A standard scouting group his frigate and her sister ship, _PKF Salem, _were escorting the lead ship of their scouting group the Icestorm cruiser _PKC Witchcraft. _The Icestorm class cruisers carried one fighter squadron and this was filled on almost all ships by the Tornado class interceptor, _Witchcraft _was no exception and had launched her 12 fighters as soon as she had exited light speed and they were now deployed in a standard combat air patrol, or CAP, around the scout force. "Its good that our strike craft are so much better than anyone else we have encountered" Caleb though to himself "Because with as much room as the Ion Beam takes up our fighter compliments are truly pitiful. Thankfully their technological superiority and superior training have kept us on top despite this lack of numbers.

"_Witchcraft _is signalling that they have detected naquada in the system sir, possibly a Stargate." His communications officer reported

"Acknowledge and keep in contact with what they find" Caleb replied. He turned to his XO, Lt. Colonel Chase Tyler, and leaned across the holotank so that the rest of the C&C crew could not here their conversation. "What do you think?" he asked

"The Stargate that the first team found and brought back to Kaitain was on an uninhabited planet" Chase mused "But that is apparently the exception not the rule, we may have to deal with a first contact situation"

"Thankfully that's up to Commander Scott" Caleb replied "A first contact can be a very tricky thing to get right, To say nothing of the times when it's impossible to get right because the new species just want to kill or enslave you"

Chase nodded pensively "We have drilled the crew hard" he thought "They will do Caleb and the Peacekeepers proud no matter what happens"

CO and XO were silent as _Covenant _sped deeper into the system

* * *

**Goa'uld Farkarra's Ha'tak**

The system they were scouting was on the very outskirts of the Goa'uld Empire and was controlled by a mid level Goa'uld. Farkarra had a single planet under his control and a single Ha'tak which, while it made him one of the more powerful Goa'uld, left him swearing vassalage to whichever of the few dozen System Lords had threatened him the most that morning. Currently Farkarra was in the Pel'tak of his Ha'tak in orbit as this was his favorate place, surrounded by enough firepower to make all but the System Lords bow to him as their god.

"My Lord" His First Prime spoke "Three unknown ships approach"

* * *

**PKF **_**Covenant **_

Colonel Danvers and Lt. Colonel Tyler were analysing the unknown ship shown in the holotank "700m long by 650m wide and 315m high" Caleb noted "Compared to the 800m L by 100m W by 135m H of the Icestorm class they have us out massed"

"Same with armament" Chase observed "There are 60 ship to ship weapons on that vessel and several bomb launchers and ant fighter weapons, the Icestorms only carry 50 HL7 Turbolasers and the Ion Beam. They also seem to carry 3 squadrons of fighters and a squadron of bombers to the Icestorms single fighter squadron"

"In short it's a heavy cruiser analogue" Caleb concluded "And we are facing it with a light cruiser and a couple of frigates. This will be a very close run thing if first contact goes bad"

* * *

**PKC**_** Witchcraft**_

Commander Scott turned to the Astarii and the protocol droid present in the C&C "As soon as they make contact use the force language skill to program a translator so that we can understand them." He ordered. They both nodded

* * *

**Farkarra's Ha'tak**

Farkarra looked at the three ships on the view screen "Pitiful" he thought "The smaller ones are only 100m long and the larger is much smaller overall despite being longer, they will soon learn to kneel before me as their god." "Open communications" he ordered his First Prime who hastened to obey. The view changed to show room with stations around the outside and a large holotank in the middle* filled with humans and a couple of other aliens "Cree" he said in his most imperious voice "I am the god Farkarra and you will kneel before your god"

The human waited for some kind of translation before answering "I am Commander Scott of the Galactic Republic of Planets" he answered "We greet you and hope for peaceful…

Farkarra cut him off "Your words mean nothing. Bow before your god or I will destroy you for such insolence"

The human seemed to sag in disappointment "The Republic does not recognise any one being as a god" he answered "In fact there are many…"

Farkarra cut him off again "You will learn. This is your last chance, bow before me and beg forgiveness or I will punish you for your insolence"

"We will not bow to anyone" The human answered "If you attack us we will destroy you"

"I am the god Farkarra and gods cannot be destroyed" Farkarra answered confident in the ability of his Ha'tak to destroy these pitiful craft "Destroy them" he ordered his First Prime as he closed the communications channel. He would teach them the penalty of defying their god.

* * *

**PKF **_**Covenant **_

Caleb watched in dismay as golden bolts flew from the enemy ship and splashed across the defence screens of the Peacekeeper fleet rocking the ships and knocking him over. "Report!" he yelled clambering back to his feet as _Covenant _continued to rock violently

"They are using plasma weaponry far superior to the Yuuzhan Vong or our old frag cannons" Chase called back over the alarms "The defence screen is weakening fast"

* * *

**Peacekeeper Tornado**

Geoffrey Sinclair watched the blots sped from the alien ship smashing into the Peacekeeper defence screens causing them to glow red where they hit. "It appears they are not friendly" he thought sarcastically as purple turbolaser bolts flew back at them. He looked down as he received his orders. The ships were in standard delta formation with _Witchcraft _in the centre and his squadron was to intercept and destroy the three squadrons of fighters and squadron of bombers that the unknown had just launched. "I hope their strike craft aren't as advanced as their ships" he thought as he hit his afterburners and engaged.

* * *

**Farkarra's Ha'tak**

"The unknown craft are remarkably resilient" Farkarra thought to himself as his ship continued to take fire "Their weapons are weak but rapid firing and that is causing a lot of damage. I will have to capture some of them or at least search thought the wreckage before I inform the System Lords of this new race. The tech advances would allow me to bring several more worlds under the rightful rule of their god" as soon as he had finished that thought he was thrown from his throne as the Ha'tak rocked violently

* * *

**PKF **_**Covenant**_

Caleb watched with satisfaction as _Witchcraft's _Ion Beam lashed out and impacted the enemy shields doing severe damage to them. "At last something is going right" he thought as he looked at the defence screen panel which showed 30% power "We better finish this quick, my defence screen is almost gone, _Witchcraft's _isn't much better and _Salem's _lost hers already" No sooner had he thought this than two Al-Kesh, who's shields had allowed them to survive the flack guns fire, made an attack run and a large explosion signalled the death of the already heavily damaged _Salem_

* * *

**Peacekeeper Tornado**

Geoffrey Sinclair cursed as he saw _Salem _break apart and explode. The enemy fighters were pitifully armoured and as manuverable as a brick but the weapons they were using packed a considerable punch. He had lost an entire wing before his pilots learned how quickly those things could take down normal shields. They had finally been able to take down the death gliders but the Al-Kesh were much larger, shielded and seemed to mount a capitol ship anti starfighter turret. It was this that had allowed them to survive long enough to get passed the fighters and the scout groups flack screen to destroy the _Salem. _There were now only six tornados left, the victim of the Al-Kesh and trying to act like bombers to help out _Witchcraft _and_ Covenant. _He pulled back on the stick and turned around for another run on the hostile ship, Both Peacekeeper ships were in a bad way "I don't see this ending well" he thought before continuing with his attack run

* * *

**PKF **_**Covenant **_

Colonel Caleb Danvers was currently arguing with Commander Scott over the communications frequency "We are not abandoning you" he snarled into the com

"You have to" Scott replied "They are to powerful for a scout group, you have to get back and warn Kaitain. We'll cover you while you make the jump to light speed, that is a direct order Lt. Colonel"

"We can both jump to subspace and jump out from somewhere else in the system" Caleb argued not wanting to face the truth of that statement

"You have seen the sublight speed of their ships Lt Colonel" Commander Scott replied "They would catch us quickly and destroy us both before we could get away. You have to warn the fleet! GO NOW!"

"Yes sir" Caleb replied shortly hating what he was about to do

As the computers calculated the jump to light speed the crew watched and cheered when _Witchcraft's _Ion beam lashed out again finally bringing down their shields and cutting a deep gouge into their hull. Their cheers were cut short however when another volley impacted _Witchcraft _amidships finally overwhelming the armour. Girders and corridors twisted and splintered as she broke in two as _Covenant _made the jump to light speed

* * *

**Farkarra's Ha'tak**

Farkarra waved a hand in front of his face to clear some of the smoke that filled the Pel'tak. "The cowards have fled" he said aloud "They think they can escape my divine wrath, they are fools. As soon as we have analysed the wreckage of those abominations warships we will gather my fellow gods and follow them home and teach them the price of defiance" His Jaffa swelled with pride at their all powerful gods declaration. The heretics would soon learn to worship the true gods as all Jaffa had done for generations.

* * *

**Planet Antak – Five days later**

Ever where the Jaffa were pleased at their gods triumph over the demons who had dared to refuse to worship him. They had been brining down sections of the unknown ships for several days now as their god wished to look over them before informing his fellow gods, the System Lords. Had they ever wondered why their god thought he might learn something from mere heretic mortals they might have paused but they were flush with their gods, and thus their, victory as was everyone on the planet. Except one.

"It is such a shame" he thought "Another race is about to be destroyed by the Goa'uld simply because they will not bow and worship them as gods. Their culture will be destroyed if they are lucky, their race if they are not. Their technology, especially that formidable armour that withstood so much punishment, will be taken and used to make the Goa'uld even more powerful. If there are any true Gods in this universe they have surely abandoned us"

As soon as he finished that thought alarms rang all over the planet, and then the explosions began.

* * *

**Kaitain- Three days previously**

In the observation room of the Indomitable class starbase _Defiance of the Night _the three leaders of the expedition watched the planet Kaitain slowly disappear from view to be replaced by the supergate and then space.

The Dilgar Admiral Jha'dur had finished debriefing Colonel Caleb Danvers and Lt. Colonel Chase Tyler several hours ago and had been leaning against the wall looking pensive ever since

The Sebacean General Corazon Santiago constantly prowled around the room using her athletic body to achieve a grace few could match. Her deep black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that ended half way down her back and she had olive skin currently flushed with anger

The final member and overall expedition commander James Koren sat cross legged on the floor and had been looking out of the view port thoughtfully since they entered. "Tactical analysis?" He said softly turning to face Jha'dur

"Formidable" she replied "The ship that _Witchcraft _and her escorts encountered appears to be a heavy cruiser, at least we hope that they consider it a heavy cruiser, and it appears that it can destroy an Icestorm plus escorts with disturbing ease"

"Were our ships not caught by surprise by several of their capabilities?" Corazon interjected

"Yes" Jha'dur allowed "But simulations still show that an Icestorm with a standard escort will either be destroyed or will be so badly damaged that they may as well have been given how long they'll be in the shipyards. The loss of at least two ships is also certain"

"How then do they compare to our Firestorms?" James asked

"The Firestorms hold up better" Jha'dur replied with a note of relief in her voice "At 1200m L by 150m W and 200m high they slightly out mass the enemy ship, they have 15 more ship to ship guns than the enemy and 45 flack guns where the enemy has very few anti fighter energy weapons. They can also carry more strike craft, 6 squadrons to the enemies 4."

"Tech base comparison?" Corazon asked as the navies strategists and scientists had been the ones poring over the data.

"Varied" Jha'dur replied "Their weapons are considerably more powerful but that is partly made up by the fact that ours are so rapid firing, their shields are vastly more powerful than our defence screens and preliminary analysis indicates that they may be somewhere between two and three times stronger that even Galactic Alliance shields, more work needs to be done to see how they truly compare though" She paused for a moment before continuing "Our collapsed-core molybdenum amour held up very well against their weapons and is vastly superior to whatever they are using, our strike craft are superior in every respect except firepower per shot but this is countered by the fact that they have no missile carrying capacity. Their main ship is considerably faster at sublight and can run rings around our ships, the subspace drive helps a little with this but it is still very worrying. We have not seen their FTL drive in action."

"In short" James summarized "A Firestorm without escorts and one of these pyramid ships are more or less evenly matched. With the standard four frigate escort they would win but take heavy damage and a standard Pentacan of a Firestorm two Icestorms and eight Hurricanes they would win comfortably although the Pyramid ship could run away anytime it wanted to and we couldn't catch it unless slowed again"

"Correct" Jha'dur replied "Which given our fleet numbers presents a problem if they can field large numbers of these ships. If we have to deploy a full Pentacan to match every one of their heavy cruisers…" she trailed off and stood in silence for a moment

"We have to respond" Corazon said "The unprovoked attack and destruction of _Witchcraft _and_ Salem _cannot go unpunished less they become even bolder."

"Any strike may make them even more likely to attack us again" James warned

"They wish us to worship them as gods and seem to truly believe that they are, they will not tolerate our existence unless we worship them and they will attack for no other reason that they will lose followers if it becomes known that a race does not worship the 'all powerful gods'"

"A fair point" Jha'dur responded "But just as we have no idea of their fleet strength they have no idea of ours, a strike may make them much more cautious buying us more time to prepare counter measures against them."

"We also need intelligence, we do not know of the name of the race, fleet size disposition, composition, territory, the list is endless. If we could send a detachment of the 501st to take the pyramid landing complex and take prisoners before pulling out we could begin to address that necessity."

"We would also be able to make an assessment of their ground strength and steal anything not bolted down for the geeks to take a look at" Corazon mused "My troops are up to it, we do after all have a 200,000 strong Legion with us with amour, artillery and air support. Could the space marines capture the enemy ship? She asked Jha'dur

"I wouldn't like to risk it until we have a better understanding of their capabilities" Jha'dur answered "Given the power of that ship the time taken to capture even if successful would allow horrendous damage to be inflicted on the fleet"

Corazon nodded respectfully conceding the point to her space based equivalent before continuing "Can we withstand a full scale assault on Kaitain if this does provoke them, assuming that they bring equal or superior numbers?" She queried

"That is where we have had some luck" James answered "Although most of her systems have been stripped to make room for our exploration operations through the Stargate with the exception of the loss of her strike craft _Isenguard _retains full combat capability. We also have the second Indomitable class starbase _Defiance of the Night _and the new Fury class defence platforms protecting the supergate, the planet, and the shipyards"

"How effective will the Fury defence platforms be?" Corazon questioned

"While they look like the front of a squid they are very powerful" Jha'dur replied "the latest in miniaturization technology and power generation have allowed us to create a 'light' Ion Beam, and along with the platforms shields this takes up all of its room. The arms focus the beam giving it about ¼ of the power of the beam mounted on a light cruiser, very good for a 50m by 50m by 50m platform, and the large numbers of platforms make up for low power output. The Ion beam performed, if not as good as usual, then well against the enemies shields. They have no other weapons so they must be defended against strike craft but the ground based squadrons can deal with that easily. With the minefields on all approach vectors I feel that with the fleet present we can repulse an attack fleet that outnumbers us 3 to 1"

There was a long pause

"Is this worth it?" Corazon asked the question they were all thinking "Sha'dur was right, we've run headlong into another war"

"Eventually James spoke "We came here to find technology that would allow us to defend ourselves. We've found it, even if we only do a little fighting to obtain samples and then retreat and destroy the supergate we cannot leave when the answer to saving the Republic is so close"

"Long live the Republic" they both replied

* * *

Reviewing take 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself.

One or two people keep saying that this story should not be a season 3 crossover. It is. I'm not changing it so stop pestering me.


	3. The Republic Strikes Back

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualise. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Halels Review:**** This story will go much better w/o the slash. It slowed the story down and also help alienate the majority of your het readers.**

I trust the vast majority of people are able to decide for themselves whether this bothers them and, unlike some, are able to skip or ignore my romance if they don't like it. As for the pace, not everything has to be full speed ahead sometimes its nice to slow down and take stock of what you are missing.

Besides I'd rather have 5 readers who either like or ignore my romance than 50 readers who have forced me to drop it and conform to what they think is right

Secondly being a lazy writer by using many different races from different TV shows, games and movies using Rivendell as my capitol, Isenguard as Republic Citadel, Minas Tirith as the Astarii Temple and a character from a TV show as the main love interest. The last time I attempted a descriptive chapter everybody hated it so I got around it by doing it this way and that is not 'slapping the Tolkien and the other famous authors in the face' This is fanfiction, playing around with the authors works is the basis of every single story on here. But then your an anonymous reviewer with no account and you certainly haven't written anything so I shouldn't be surprised by your attitude. You have no idea how difficult it is to write something even with a cannon series to help you. So seeing as you have done nothing but criticize every little thing providing no constructive comments whatsoever I have only one thing to say to you

SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!

* * *

**NovaSolarian: I happen to agree, slash stories sucks big time. You had a good storyline going until it gets ruined by slash. Am removing your storyline from my alert list and putting your name on the blacklist.**

So because my romance is between to men I've 'ruined' the story and I need to be put on a 'blacklist'. Can anyone believe this guy?! Note on his profile it says 'my muse is sensitive to criticism' well despite the fact that he actually hasn't written anything that is just obscene, asking everyone to be nice to you while you insult and threaten somebody else is truly pitiful

And people wonder why my enthusiasm takes a battering. Sadly we haven't even reached the romance yet so I can't triple the content in the next chapter but thankfully one of them is gone and I'm actually very pleased to see him go. I don't want to spend time writing entertainment for people like NovaSolarian

* * *

**Nice Reviewers**

My thanks to all the nice reviewers who give me the enthusiasm to carry on, **one-village-idiot **chief among them

* * *

**Chapter 3 The Republic Strikes Back**

**Antak – Three days after **_**PKC Witchcraft's **_**destruction**

Deciding to keep the Command Carriers hidden for now Grand Master Koren had dispatched the First Strike Group to the Antak system to avenge _PKC Witchcraft _and _PKF Salem. _A Strike Group consisted of 5 Pentacans one of which was a Command Cruiser This battle group was commanded by Commandant Christopher (Chris) Pine** from the Firestorm heavy cruiser _PKC Starlight. _Looking around his larger C&C he stopped at the second holotank. Several Firestorms had been altered with the expansion of the C&C and the addition of a second holotank which allowed the ships commander to focus on the ship and the fleet commander to focus on the battle helping them fulfil their role as the command cruisers of the strike groups. At the second holotank stood the ships newly promoted commanding officer Commander Caleb Danvers and his new executive officer Colonel Chase Tyler. Having been very impressed with their handling of _PKF Covenant _in the battle Chris had chosen them as his command crew which no one had ever held down for more than a couple of months, "I have a feeling that those two will do just fine though" Chris thought as the First Strike Group dropped out of lightspeed. He began issuing orders to the fleet.

* * *

**Farkarra's Ha'tak**

Farkarra sat in his throne in the Pel'tak of his Ha'tak dreaming of his conquest of the other minor Goa'uld and, maybe, his ascension to the rank of System Lord. He had already learned a great deal from the wreckage of the alien craft, not that he would ever admit it, but he was the only one who knew of it. He did not intend to inform the System Lord Collective until he had conquered his neighbours and this would prove to be a fatal error.

"My lord!" one of his Jaffa exclaimed

Farkarra looked up to see what the insolent Jaffa had disturbed his dreams of glory for and promptly paled when he saw the 50+ ships of the First Strike Group dropping out of lightspeed

* * *

_**PKC Starlight**_

"The Strike Group has dropped out of lightspeed sir" Chris's helmsman reported

"One enemy capitol ship detected" his sensor operator reported "Confirmed as the one that destroyed _Witchcraft _and _Salem_, She still bears the scars of Republic guns. Enemy vessel is launching fighter craft and bombers"

"We cannot let them escape even if it means prolonging the battle" Chris thought "Signal the squadron, all cruisers are to fire their Ion Beams at the enemy capitols sublight engines, DO NOT let them escape"

"Sound action stations and make ready the guns" Commander Danvers ordered

"_Action Stations Action Stations set condition one throughout the ship! Action Stations Action Stations set condition one throughout the ship!" _the PA blared as the siren wailed and the lights darkened a little with red strips flashing along the walls

"Turbolasers armed ready to fire, flack guns armed ready to fire" Colonel Tyler reported "All decks report clear for action, all fighters and bombers launched and the Ion Beam is ready to fire"

"Raise defence screen"

"Defence screen aye"

"Target acquisition imminent" the weapons officer reported "We've locked on to the sublight engines"

"Fire!" Commander Danvers ordered

* * *

**Farkarra's Ha'tak**

Farkarra recovered quickly and with the self preservation inherent in any Goa'uld quickly realised that he could not win this battle "Jaffa" he ordered "Set course for Bubasas, Lady Bastet must learn what transpires here" "and I will be safe behind the thousands of Ha'tak at her command" he thought fearfully

The Jaffa would never get to carry out the order as the few moments that Farkarra and his Jaffa had frozen in disbelief had given the Republic forces time to shunt power from their hyperdrives to their Ion Beams and at that moment the 5 Firestorms and 10 Icestorms unleashed their power on Farkarra's Ha'tak

Blue white beams tore across space before impacting on the shields of the Ha'tak, overwhelmed by 15 Ion Beams striking at once the shields collapsed and the beams gutted the centre of the Ha'tak

Farkarra looked at the display of his Ha'tak with horror. "The sublight engines are completely destroyed" he thought in a panic "even if we open a hyperspace window we have no way to enter it. I'm trapped!"

* * *

_**PKC Starlight**_

Caleb and Chase felt a rush of pleasure as they saw the damage done to the Ha'tak. Both of them wished nothing more than the complete extermination of the Goa'uld and had good reason to do so. Born on the Ipswich colony Caleb Danvers, Chase Tyler, Reid Garwin and Tyler Simms were born within a few months of each other, grew up together as close as twins, entered the Peacekeepers together and got the CO and XO positions of two frigates together. All of that was gone now as Reid and Tyler were commanding _Salem_ when she was destroyed by the Goa'uld at the First Battle of Antak and now they would avenge their brothers

"Signal the squadron ahead full and weapons free I want that ship dead" Commandant Pine ordered

"Ahead flank speed" Commander Danvers ordered "All forward guns fire as you bear"

The cruisers surged ahead entering turbolaser range. Icestorms poured long range fire into the Ha'tak's hull while the starfighters and escort frigates let lose torrents of fire on the udajeet and Al-Kesh, closing to point blank range the _Starlight _and the _Blood and Iron _cruised passed the Ha'tak on either side and like the naval ships of old exchanged broadsides. With bolt after bolt of turbolaser fire impacting the hull the Ha'tak disintegrated as its udajeet were hunted down and its Al-Kesh were slaughtered by multiple missile impacts.

Barely 10 minuets after it began the Second Battle of Antak ended in complete victory for the Galactic Republic of Planets

* * *

**Antak – Stargate and landing complex**

On the ground one person had managed to witness the space battle and had almost cheered when Farkarra had been killed, now he franticly tried to send a message before he was killed in the aliens revenge

"Why have they not begun orbital bombardment?" he thought as the message was sent "I fully expected to be dead by now, there are no space based defences left"

Just then the sensors chimed and he felt realisation flood through him as the _PKA Ascendant _came in for landing

* * *

_**PKA Ascendant **_

In the ground combat C&C aboard the _Ascendant _General Santiago decided to keep the ground vehicles, gunships and artillery in the hangers "I do not want to give away any more of our capability than necessary" she thought "I'll deploy them if the aliens field similar equipment but if they don't and we don't use our own here then when we finally do deploy them the element of surprise may just be enough to carry the day"

Outside 20,000 troops of the 501st Peacekeeper Legion marched in formation towards the enemy landing complex. Soon these aliens would learn what their own galaxy had had impressed on them time and time again. That no one messes with the five oh first.

* * *

**Antak – Stargate and landing complex**

"Pitiful" thought Major George as he lead his teams through the outer defensive perimeter. The Peacekeepers had met the Jaffa and found them wanting, not only were their staff weapons weak and slow firing requiring two direct hits to penetrate his armour they had no ability to aim whatsoever "Though they do know how to use them in mêlée combat" he conceded as he saw one of his troopers get his forearm smashed and drop his vibrosword allowing the Jaffa to break his neck.

Major George was about to go and take out the Jaffa when in a flash of black and blue armour an Astarii guardian beat him to it. The staff surprisingly held against the Astarii's lightsaber but the guardian quickly used his single hilt to make quick sharp strikes forcing the Jaffa on the defensive. Using the force to enhance his strength and speed the Astarii unleashed a flurry of blows that hailed down on the Jaffa until one took off his head

Satisfied his trooper had been avenged and the threat dealt with Major George saluted the Astarii and lead his troops into the pyramid. Idly he wondered why that Jaffa's forehead tattoo had been done in gold

* * *

**Farkarra's Pyramid – Antak **

Hiding in his room from the sounds of weapons fire the only person on the planet happy about the Peacekeeper assault was certainly not going to fight for a false god and so was keeping well out of the way. By the sounds if it though it wouldn't have mattered whether he fought or not, the attackers armour was formidable and their weaponry was energy based like the staff weapons but more powerful, rapid firing and above all, accurate. The few thousand Jaffa loyal to Anak were being quickly overwhelmed and the enemy troops had already breached the building he was in. "I hope they skip this room" he thought "Or at least be in the mood to take prisoners"

"Hands up!" came from the red black and gold armoured man who had suddenly appeared in the doorway

He noticed absently as two red and black armoured troopers came closer to bind his hands and lead him outside, presumably back to their ship. "You just had to think it didn't you Lantash?" he thought "_Oops_" his symbiote replied.

* * *

**Stargate Command – 2 months after the Second Battle of Antak**

"_Unscheduled off world activation!" _came over the PA as the red lights and sirens began to wail. Sighing General George Hammond hit the stop button on the lift and sent it back down to sublevel 24 again. "So close" he thought. Every member of the SGC was always a bit nervous when leaving the base because unfortunately the galaxy didn't time its crises be Earths 9-5, Mon-Fri schedule. But then again being caught on your way home was better than being summoned at 4 o'clock in the morning. Well unless your name was Daniel Jackson and then you just never left the base.

"What is it?" he asked entering the control room

"It's the Tok'ra IDC sir" Sgt. Harriman replied

"Do we really have to open it sir?" his second in command Colonel Jack O'Neill said coming up behind him

"Open the Iris" the general ordered deciding to ignore the Colonels commentary

The titanium Iris retracted from the Stargate allowing the blue event horizon to be seen as former US Air force General and now Tok'ra host Jacob Carter stepped though

"Briefing room" General Hammond ordered.

General Hammond, Jacob Carter/Selmak and SG1 were seated around the briefing room table in the SGC. "So what's going on Jacob?" he questioned

His head dipped and then raised as Selmak took control. When he spoke again it was in the tones of the Symbiote "_A situation has arisen on the planet Antak_" Selmak said "_One of our operatives was stationed there monitoring the area_"

"Just what was it about the snakeheads in that area that needed monitoring?" O'Neill asked

General Hammond resolved to have a talk with the Colonel. While the Tok'ra would probably agree with that assessment of the Goa'uld Jack had a tendency to call them snakeheads as well and then wondered why they didn't like the tau'ri and were reluctant to work with them. If Jack went around the base calling every black person 'nigger' there would be a mutiny and rightly so and he would make sure that Jack understood that this was no different and to include the symbiote in talks more rather than just focusing on the host. They were a pair closer than most husbands and wife's after all. He brought himself back to the present to listen to Selmak's response.

"_The sector of the galaxy that Antak is in is an interesting one_" Selmak responded "_the Goa'uld first expanded in that direction several thousand years ago but the closer they got to the galactic rim the more resource scarce the worlds became. Eventually they gave up expansion in that direction and refocused their attentions elsewhere, some worlds were abandoned, others were left to independent Goa'uld not formally part of any System Lords domain_"

"The sort that have a handful of Ha'tak and one or two planets under their control right?" Daniel questioned "The type that really aren't worth the effort of conquering so long as they do what the System Lords tell them to?"

"Indeed" Teal'c replied "The nine most powerful of these minor Goa'uld formed a group known as the Linvris which they hope to use to challenge the System Lords"

"_While not powerful enough to take on even one major System Lord alone they are, collectively, quite capable of picking off an isolated minor one or tipping the balance of power between two closely matched opposing forces. It is for this reason that we were watching them_." Selmak noted

"What changed?" O'Neill asked

"_This_" Selmak answered and placed a hologram projector on the table that proceeded to show a black elongated hexagonal ship escorted by two smaller elongated rectangular ones facing a Ha'tak "_These three unknown ships entered the Antak system by some form of faster than light travel we have not seen before, they then proceeded to attempt to communicate with the Ha'tak_"

The projection changed to show a large room with a table of some sort and a series of consoles placed around it with one wall made of what appeared to be glass doors. A human stood in the centre of the room with several others including several aliens surrounding them

"Wow" Captain Carter said in an amazement "That seems to be a very technologically advanced race, if the fact they had space ships didn't already show that" she tailed off embarrassedly

"I'm more interested in the crew" Daniel Jackson observed "There appear to be at least four different races in that command centre apart from humans. This society must be made up of several races working together like the Great Alliance of Four races that the Asgard told us about"

"Or they could've just conquered them" Jack observed

"No" Daniel replied distractedly "No you don't let conquered races have positions in the command centres of your warships"

"Fair point" Jack said after a moments thought

"_The conversation is just as interesting_" Selmak spoke before restarting the hologram

The human waited for some kind of translation before answering "I am Commander Scott of the Galactic Republic of Planets" he answered "We greet you and hope for peaceful…

Anak cut him off "Your words mean nothing. Bow before your god or I will destroy you for such insolence"

The human seemed to sag in disappointment "The Republic does not recognise any one being as a god" he answered "In fact there are many…"

Anak cut him off again "You will learn. This is your last chance, bow before me and beg forgiveness or I will punish you for your insolence"

"We will not bow to anyone" The human answered "If you attack us we will destroy you"

"I am the god Anak and gods cannot be destroyed" Anak answered

Selmak reached out to pause the hologram again

"It appears that these people know nothing of the Goa'uld" Teal'c spoke "Otherwise they would surely have known better than to attempt a peaceful contact"

"Yeh but it shows a lot about them" Daniel said as the others looked at him "Well think about it there is more than one race and they call themselves the Galactic Republic of Planets"

"It doesn't mean that their the sort of people we would want to deal with" Sam said

"No but the fact that they attempted a peaceful contact does" Daniel answered "As does the fact that the leader seems to be about to mention freedom of religion before the Goa'uld cuts him off"

"Well Daniel none of this is going to matter if they can't defend themselves" Jack retorted "You got a recording of the battle there?" he said speaking to Selmak

"_Indeed_" Selmak answered and started the recording once more letting the battle play out before deactivating it.

A depressing silence hung around the table until Teal'c spoke "It appears that these peoples warships are inferior to the Goa'uld"

"And the Goa'uld wipe out yet another race" Daniel spoke up disgustedly

"_That is what we thought as well_" Selmak said "_But then we received this_" he activated the hologram again showing more than 50 ships exiting FTL before opening fire on the surprised Ha'tak. Purple bolts flew from gun emplacements that would not have looked out of place on the battleships Hood, Bismarck or Yamato and slammed into the unshielded Ha'tak blasting it into pieces. A dagger shaped ship entered orbit before beginning a decent, presumably to land troops before the hologram deactivated.

"Did everyone else just see that?" General Hammond said still in shock

"Yes sir" Carter replied warily "The large ships they deployed appeared to be over 1km long and at least equivalent to a Ha'tak"

"They also deployed a great many warships" Teal'c observed

"And are seemingly unconcerned by Goa'uld reprisals" Daniel spoke up

"Well then" O'Neill said "I guess there's a new player on the field"

* * *

**Indomitable Class Starbase **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**One week after Antak assault**

One of the few modifications that _Defiance of the Night _had undergone for the expedition was the construction of a meeting room atop one of the central spires from where James, Jha'dur and Corazon could discuss matters as all three tended to get claustrophobic spending so much time in the main war room in the centre of the station. Currently the three were sat around the central circular table pouring over the intelligence reports from the technology and prisoners that they had brought back.

"Ok" James said after a moment "Lets cut this lot down to a more manageable size by getting rid of the easy stuff first. Technology wise their shields are far superior to even GA designs by a factor of 2.7 something or other, best guess for understanding the basic principles is months, a working prototype years"

"That seems to be the consensus on most issues" Jha'dur added "Plasma weaponry is extremely formidable and may lend itself to adaptation in our HL7 turbolasers and Ion beams but the timescale is the same"

"Their matter energy converter gives them a great advantage in shifting forces quickly" Corazon said "The timescale for these is even worse with years needed to understand even the principles but there are apparently many of these 'ring platforms' so we can steal and incorporate them easily when required"

"A point worth remembering" James conceded "Engine wise their version of hyperspace seems to be a more developed version of our own, they can change direction, go faster, don't need to plot the whole jump before entering hyperspace, don't have to travel in a straight line and can ignore gravity wells making approach lanes a thing of the past. This is the most promising as the techs think they can have a working prototype in a few months."

"So soon?" Corazon questioned disbelievingly

"The report says it's not so much creating a new drive as making our current reverse engineered one perform closer to it's original specifications" James explained "It does seem to confirm the anthropologists theory that the Goa'uld did what we did and reverse engineered any Alteran technology that they found. Unfortunately the Alterans had little more than a beachhead in our galaxy where as this is their home one giving the Goa'uld far more to work with than we ever had"

There was silence as this was contemplated for a moment. Jha'dur finally broke it with the most troubling tech report "Their sublight engines are our major problem" she said "Its like a fight between someone who walks slowly and some one who can run, we just can't avoid battle when it's not in our interests or force it if it is. We cannot conduct any offensive operations until we have solved this"

"How long" Corazon questioned resignedly

"A month to create a working hybrid of our current ion drives and the Goa'uld sublight drives after we have the principles figured out" she stated tiredly

"The basic principles are going to take a lot of months to learn aren't they" James queried, picking up on his friends exasperation

Jha'dur nodded "Fourteen months at the very least, probably more and we are effectively crippled until then"

Silence filled the chamber once more as the occupants reflected that they were restricted to Stargate operations only for most likely the next year

"Well it just makes getting the Stargate teams up and running more important" James stated confidently attempting to lighten the mood "Corazon the proposals for _Isenguard_ have been finalised at last I take it?"

"Yes" Corazon spoke up, as gates were on the ground the Grand Army of the Republic had been charged with setting up the Stargate teams "The standard team will consist of eight members. One commander, one engineer, one diplomat, one heavy trooper and four troupers. Heavy trooper, sniper, jetpack trooper, engineer and other specialised teams will be available to assist on request as the mission requires and one member of the team must be an Astarii so that the local language can be understood in a matter of seconds rather than days."

"Sounds reasonable" Jha'dur commented "Though the single heavy trooper concerns me"

"It should do if we were fighting anyone else" Corazon replied "But the Goa'uld appear to use only relatively weak direct fire artillery known as staff cannons. They have no armour and rely on udajeet and Al-Kesh to provide air support and as the only time large numbers of udajeet and Al-Kesh should be encountered are on deliberate strike missions not standard recon one heavy trooper should be enough. The flagship team" Corazon continued "known as IS1 will be different, consisting of Council Master Atton Rand, Master Bao Dur, Master Mira, Master Brianna and Master Mical this will be the team sent on the most high profile and difficult missions, it was decided that grouping the best members of the expedition together would produce better results than spreading them out"

"A sound plan" James said with a hint of pride in his voice "But we cannot send them out there blind. How have the interrogations been coming? He asked Jha'dur

Just as Stargate Command fell under the jurisdiction of Corazon's Grand Army of the Republic so the Intelligence Directorate fell under the jurisdiction of Jha'dur's Peacekeeper Armada

"We have gained a great deal of information on the social structure and beliefs of the Goa'uld and their client races which is listed in detail in the report" Jha'dur began "But nothing of any useful tactical nature, they are to indoctrinated with the belief that the Goa'uld are gods for interrogation to work. I would like permission to use the Aurora Chair."

The Aurora chair was an interesting and controversial piece of technology. The chair had the ability to allow the user to search the subjects mind for specific information however it unfortunately caused pain. While this was not unbearable if the subject did not resist it became agony if they tried to hide something and so came perilously close to torture which the Republic had outlawed at its founding. Thankfully while torture was defined as inflicting pain to obtain information the Aurora Chair obtained information with a side effect of pain making it legal if controversial, it was tolerated because sometimes you needed the information someone had such as a ticking bomb scenario and the fact that the chair showed only true memories removed the main argument against torture as a method of information gathering, that someone will say anything to make the pain stop, and that it only became truly painful if you tried to hide something.

"We have several hundred prisoners" James mused "If we all agree I think we can send the five most senior for interrogation via the Aurora Chair and send the rest to the prison moon in the outer system"

"There is one more thing" Jha'dur spoke up "Something I believe that you will want to deal with personally James. We captured four Goa'uld overall but one has a rather interesting story"

* * *

**Thunder Class Shuttle – On approach to **_**Defiance of the Night**_

Martouf and Lantash looked in awe at the sight that greeted them. Lit up by the blue, purple and orange suns of Kaitain the massive circular starbase glided serenely over the planet. "It's beautiful" Martouf thought

"_And deadly" _Lantash replied _"Those four arms linking the central hub to the outer ring end in what seem to be weapon emitters. I have no doubt that they are very powerful." _

"No doubt they are showing it to us to show their power, shock and awe, and hope by doing so hope to discourage an attack by letting us know how costly it would be." Martouf mused

"_Costly indeed" _Lantash noted warily _"The station must be at least 12km in diameter and 6km high. Freed from the power and space requirements of both hyperspace and sublight engines I would not like to speculate how many weapons they could have installed on an installation of such a size" _

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Martouf questioned as they entered the large space door on the upper half that was apparently the only way for ships to enter of leave "Do you think they believed us about the Tok'ra?"

"_We shall soon find out" _Lantash said as they entered the interior of the station, surprisingly only a 90 degree wedge was hollow _"Oh yes" _Lantash thought_ "I think that this station will contain many surprises" _

* * *

**Indomitable Class Starbase **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Triumvirate Observation Room **

Martouf stepped out of the elevator ahead of his two guards. "Don't think about trying anything" one of them said to him "You may be allowed freedom in here but several snipers are ready to kill you should you try something untoward"

"Do you think he's bluffing?" Martouf asked his symbiote while peering around the cavernous room with many levels.

"_I would not like to risk it" _Lantash replied _"The lights are off, only the blue strips on the staircases and upper walkways are active and there are many places to hide. I am more concerned with why we have been brought here."_

"He is waiting for you at the view port" one of the guards said after Martouf had been in the same spot for a couple of minuets

Cautiously he ascended the steps where the main source of light was coming from to find himself in front of a large window the length of the room and at least twice as high as himself. More guards stood to either side but it was the dark haired young man who stood in the centre that caught his attention. Looking out of the view port as if he didn't know of Martouf's existence the man was waiting for something, presumably himself "Who do you think he is?" Martouf thought

"_He wears the same cream and metallic colour uniform that many of the high ranking interrogators have_" Lantash thought back "_There is much more gold on his than any others we have seen. If this is not the leader of this civilisation then he is the most high ranking one we have yet met, I think we have been brought to him to state our case_."

Martouf walked up and stood beside the stranger before looking out over the planet below marvelling at its beauty and the interplay of light from the three coloured suns waiting for his captor to speak.

James Koren glanced sideways at the attractive man standing next to him. "He has shown no fear despite being in an unlit room surrounded by guards with a death threat over his head" James thought "That counts in his favour at least. He has also not attempted to speak to me but is rather waiting until he is spoken to. Excellent. He is far more adaptive than the other Goa'uld that we have as our prisoners." "You present me with quite the conundrum Goa'uld" James spoke softly

"_We are NOT Goa'uld" _the Lantash replied quietly and without aggression but firm and unyielding tone

"Good" James though to himself "They still have some backbone and the symbiote is not afraid to let others know when it is speaking" "I apologise" James spoke quietly once more "What then am I to call you?"

"I am Martouf" the man replied softly in a normal voice "My symbiote is called Lantash, together we are known as simply Tok'ra"

"Well Tok'ra" James replied "Do you know why you are here?"

"I presume it is to convince you of the Tok'ra's existence" Martouf replied believing the man would respond better to him as host rather than Lantash as symbiote

"No" James answered relishing the look of surprise on the other mans face "Your Aurora Chair interrogation on that issue has proven the Tok'ra's existence. What I must now decide is what to do with you."

Martouf winced remembering the interrogation. It had not been pleasant but as he had submitted voluntarily to provide answers to pre approved questions the pain had not been to great. He had known far worse from the mildest Goa'uld tortures. "I do not understand" he asked "If you are convinced of the Tok'ra why do you not release me so that I can return to them and possibly open diplomatic relations with our peoples?"

"The problem is what the Tok'ra might do" James replied calmly "Your stated aim is the overthrow of the Goa'uld by any means necessary and one of the easiest ways to do that is to take out the entire Goa'uld leadership in one fell swoop. Question: What could cause a full gathering of the System Lord Collective so the Tok'ra could strike at them? Answer: Information that proves the existence and location of a race powerful enough to threaten the Goa'uld Empire as a whole.

Martouf was stunned into silence _"You cannot blame him" _Lantash thought to him_ "If the High Council thought that it would work they would do exactly that" _Martouf had to concede that his symbiote was right.

"_You make a fair point" _Lantash replied aloud_ "If such a thing were to work the Tok'ra High Council would at least consider it. However all of the major players would never attend such a meeting. Apophis and Chronus could never sort out their differences even before open war broke out and neither can several other of the older Goa'uld such as Heru'ur and Nirti. The full System Lord Collective would never meet, at most we could strike at a coalition of half of them simply making the other half more powerful when they absorbed our victims vassals and domains."_

"It is good that you did not try to deny it" James observed "Otherwise our conversation would be over. It is a pity that the Aurora Chair can only test facts, not speculation on another's actions in certain circumstances."

Martouf and Lantash remained silent awaiting the leaders decision

"I will let you return to the Tok'ra" James said "But I will require something from you before you leave as a little insurance against the damage your release could bring. You will be released when you have helped us to understand the Goa'uld sublight drives and build a prototype hybrid of them and our own ion engines. What say you Martouf and Lantash? Do we have an accord?"

"Its not weapons technology" Martouf observed _"_And he is only requesting our assistance with this one piece leaving the Tok'ra with plenty of knowledge to bargain with_" _

"_Helping them with this will also allow us to interact with their society and gather information on them at the same time as building the first steps of a diplomatic relationship" _Lantash thought back

"We have an accord. In fact as a thank you for believing us offering us this chance we shall provide you with the Stargate address for the original Goa'uld homeworld. There is much that you can learn about them in the place that they evolved" Martouf enjoyed the look of shock on James Koren's face as he turned back to the view port to gaze once more at the glittering jewel that was Kaitain

* * *

**Indomitable Class Starbase**_** Isenguard**_** - Two months later**

Martouf and Lantash walked up to the Stargate set perfectly inline with the floor before turning back to wave goodbye to his new friends. A few days later after disposing of any possible means of tracking or sign pursuit he walked through the Stargate of the new Tok'ra homeworld bringing them a precious gift that they had lost centuries ago. Hope

* * *

Jacob coming to Earth to inform them can be assumed to be at the same time as he comes to carry out the Seth mission. Episode 2 season 3

*Think Battlestar Pegasus's CIC

**The new Captain Kirk

Reviewing take 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself.


	4. Command Decisions

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualise. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Note**

The episode Tok'ra season 2 introduces Garshaw as Grand Council. Later Per'sus is introduced as Tok'ra leader. So I have made the Tok'ra high council this… Councillors, Grand Councillors (Garshaw and Selmak) and Supreme Councillor Per'sus

Planet designations are going to be MW (Milky Way Galaxy) a two figure point of latitude and longitude on Kaitains surface that can be projected in a straight line into space and a figure of how far down that line it is eg: (34,52) 6th system on the line becomes MW345206

The Stargate is said by many sources to be 20 feet in diameter, lose 3 feet for the ring to give you a figure of 17 feet for the event horizon, 3 feet to a metre gives you a 5.6 metre event horizon, round down to 5.5 meters. Given the loss due to the circular shape a 5 meter wide tank with sloping sides will, just, make it though

Bedrosia is from the Season 3 episode New Ground. Quite a lot of the dialogue is either copied or adapted from that episode

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all of you who have reviewed nicely

* * *

**Chapter 4 Command Decisions**

**Vorash – Two weeks after Martouf's release**

Jacob Carter stepped through the Stargate onto the surface of Vorash, a desert planet home to the main Tok'ra base, and set off for the ring transporters that would allow him to enter the underground base. "Thank you for sending me back towards Mark" he thought to Selmak. Selmak had requested the trip to Earth to tell the Tau'ri about the new power and search for Seth in the hope of reconciling Jacob and his son Mark Carter. The fate of one of the fathers of Seth's followers had galvanised Jacob into mending fences with his son and had kept him on Earth an extra week

"_You are welcome Jacob" _Selmak though back _"As you know what you feel, I feel and I could tell how much your estrangement hurt. But it appears we will have to speak of this another time. Garshaw approaches and looks concerned, and that takes a great deal to accomplish"_

"_Selmak it is good you have returned" _Garshaw said_ "You must come to the council chamber immediately. I will inform the others of your return." _

Selmak assumed control of Jacobs body and fell into step next to Garshaw heading to the council chamber _"What has occurred to concern you so old friend?" _he asked

"_Martouf has returned" _Garshaw replied causing Selmak to stop in his tracks from shock

* * *

**Tok'ra Base – High Council Chambers**

Martouf paced the tunnels outside the High Council chamber. The council themselves were listening to a quick summary of Grand Councillor Selmak's mission to the Tau'ri to locate Seth. "I hope they listen to what we have to say" Martouf thought to Lantash "The Republic is the most advanced race we have encountered with the exception of the Tollan and they outnumber the Tollan by far"

"_Many in the council may disagree, Thron first among them_" Lantash replied_ "And don't think that about Thron, its rude" _he admonished

"I noticed you didn't disagree with it" Martouf thought inwardly grinning

"_Tok'ra" _Aldwin said coming out of the chamber_ "The High Council wishes to speak with you"_

Martouf followed the councils representative into the chamber and waited for them to speak

"_It is good that you have returned to us Martouf and Lantash" _Supreme Councillor Per'sus said "_Could you please report your experiences of this new race?"_

"The new race is a democratic union of several different species that call themselves the Galactic Republic of Planets" Martouf began "Their military is split into three parts, the first is the Astarii Order and appears to be a cross between military and law enforcement the other two are pure military and are known as Peacekeepers. The space forces are known as the Peacekeeper Armada and the ground forces are known as the Grand Army of the Republic. After Farkarra's Ha'tak was destroyed a large dagger shaped ship which I now know to be an Acclamator class assault ship landed and began deploying thousands of black and red armoured troops. Their armour was far superior to the Jaffa requiring two staff blasts in the exact same area to penetrate and they used weapons known as pulse rifles and pulse pistols, these weapons are far more accurate, powerful and rapid firing than the staff weapons of the Jaffa. When they engaged in Melee combat they used either a single or double bladed vibrosword so called because the blade itself vibrates allowing it to cut through the armour of the Jaffa. The Jaffa around the landing complex were quickly overrun and the troops began taking everything that could be moved and capturing prisoners of which I was one.

"_So you believe that this new race is far superior to the Goa'uld on the ground?" _Councillor Thron questioned

"Yes" Martouf answered "When taken back on board _Ascendant_, the name of the assault ship, I glimpsed three forms of armoured fighting vehicles, artillery and several gunships. The Peacekeepers will comfortably win any ground engagement unless the Goa'uld bring overwhelming numbers, Lantash and I both agree that when Jaffa meets Peacekeeper there will be a 3 to 1 kill ratio minimum in the Peacekeepers favour and if they deploy their ground and air support that ratio will increase significantly."

The council sat considering this for several minuets. Very few races could beat the Goa'uld on the ground or in space, the Tau'ri were one of the few that could match and exceed them on the ground but their numbers were very few, a few dozen at most, where as this new race deployed thousands of troops in one operation and had large amounts of support vehicles as well.

"_What were your experiences of the Republic itself?" _Selmak questioned

"I was taken back to their main base and while I was treated roughly as a Goa'uld I was not abused as they deem mistreatment of prisoners of war a stain upon the collective hour of the Peacekeepers. When interrogated we were not harmed and myself and Lantash agreed to tell them of the Tok'ra to attempt to secure our release or the safety of any other operatives that they may encounter. I was convincing enough for them to use a device known as the Aurora Chair to see if I was telling the truth.

The council was reassured by the experiences that they had heard so far, all had heard from Jacob the saying 'If you want a true measure of a society watch how it treats its elderly, its sick and its prisoners' It seemed that the Republic was an honourable society that could be trusted if they decided to negotiate

"_What is this Aurora Chair?" _Councillor Delek asked

"The chair has the ability to allow the user to search the subjects mind for specific information and can determine between true information and lies" Martouf replied "Though it does cause pain it is not unbearable if the subject does not resist however it becomes agony if they tried to hide something as the chair must use more power to extract the information. My experience of it was not pleasant but as I had submitted voluntarily to provide answers to pre approved questions the pain was not to great, I have known far worse from the mildest Goa'uld tortures."

"_A similar piece of technology to the Zatarc detector then" _Councillor Ren'al mused _"Perhaps something worth trading for, I apologise Martouf please continue"_

"After It was determined that I was telling the truth I was brought before Grand Master James Koren. He was referred to as expedition commander which leads me to believe that there are dozens of worlds in the GRP as the resources required to produce a system such as Kaitain, especially if it is an expedition, are far beyond one or two worlds."

"_Explain" _Grand Councillor Garshaw ordered

"In return for my release I helped to adapt Goa'uld sublight engine designs to the Ion drives the Peacekeepers were using. During that time I encountered no less than 23 different races, several large cities on the surface each containing millions of people, two starbases in orbit, each 12km in diameter and 6km high, a large shipyard and hundreds of warships." Martouf replied

The council sat stunned. Such a large amount of people and resources made them the largest threat to the Goa'uld in the galaxy, no one else could come close to fielding that amount of population or mobile firepower.

"_That amount of power would make them a serious threat to the Goa'uld" _Thron said thoughtfully_ "Are we sure that the full System Lord Collective will not meet?" _

"_With the current state of the galaxy it is certain." _Garshaw replied_ "Even if they did it would simply weaken them further against Sokar who is coming dangerously close to outweighing the collective power of the System Lords. We would not wish to aid the worst of the Goa'uld rising to dominance" _

"_That does not even begin to address the moral question of deliberately aiding the Goa'uld in enslaving or exterminating the races we have sworn to fight on behalf of. We would be no better than they if they did so" _Selmak said looking reproachfully at Thron

Delek, a friend of both Selmak and Thron intervened before they got into another legendary argument "_What would their attitude to becoming hosts be?" he asked Martouf "There are still hundreds of our people in stasis jars awaiting new hosts, those that left their hosts before they were to weak to survive being put into stasis"_

"My experience was that they were very comfortable with the idea of a symbiotic relationship between two sentient beings, if not this existence they have encountered something similar before and are much more at ease with it than the majority of the galaxies inhabitants. I would say that our chances of receiving volunteers to become hosts is very high" Martouf relished the palpable sense of hope that the council was giving off, it was so often lacking in this room where the full disparity between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra was often displayed.

"_Despite the alliance with the Tau'ri they have provided no hosts other than Jacob in over a year nor do I believe that they will make any attempt to do so. If this Republic can possibly provide hosts for our siblings in stasis then we should open negotiations with them_" Thron noted _"Did they provide you with a way to contact them?"_

"The Intelligence Directorate has been sending Peacekeeper Disruptors into Goa'uld territory for some time. Grand Master Koren revealed that several would be stationed on Antak and that they would keep an eye out for me. My presence would be immediately relayed back to Kaitain and they would know that we wished to meet with them." Martouf answered

"_It is obvious then that Martouf must go with the negotiator but one of the council should accompany him so that the GRP knows that we take them seriously. I volunteer for this mission" _Selmak said

"_No, we cannot risk either of the Grand Councillors on a mission such as this. They may still prove hostile" _Grand Councillor Per'sus stated

"_I volunteer in his place" _Thron said pretending not to notice the winces around the table

"_While you are an excellent intelligence operative Thron" _Ren'al said carefully_ "You have never had cause to learn the art of diplomacy. I will go, my status as councillor will provide me with the authority needed while my role as a biochemist will not compromise any other operatives should this meeting fail" _

"_You do not do yourself justice Ren'al_" Delek spoke up_ "You are far more valuable to the Tok'ra than you say. My concern is that you have little field experience, you may not have the skills to evade capture should the need arise"_

"_I will accompany her as well" _Aldwin said from his position by the door_ "Martouf and I both have a great deal of field experience, between us we can ensure Councillor Ren'al's safety" _

"_That seems to be the best option" _Per'sus said "_do we all agree? In that case we had better discuss how much we shall authorise Ren'al to bargain with" _That discussion would last well into the night

* * *

**Two Weeks Previously – **_**Defiance of the Night **_

Grand Master James Koren was currently pouring over the Intelligence Directorates report from their disruptors on the planet Earth. During interrogation the Stargate address of the Tau'ri had been repeatedly thrown at the interrogators along with promises of a terrible unspecified vengeance at a later, equally unspecified date. Looking for allies but unwilling to make open contact yet lest they open up yet another front James had dispatched several disrupters to Earth to learn about them and report back. Unfortunately the reports that they had sent had made his decision more difficult not less.

"The rules for diplomatic contact are clear" Jha'dur said from the other side of the table "We will not interfere with a planets development until they have achieved star travel and this will be demonstrated by the presence of a permanent outpost outside of their home system"

"The Stargate network sends that rule straight out the window" Corazon replied exasperatedly "But your right trading our technology is only supposed to occur with civilisations that have reached a certain technological and sociological level"

"While Earth, barely, meets the tech requirements they are failing the sociological ones spectacularly" James said despairingly "Ideally the planet should be united but the actual number of governments present should be in single figures if diplomatic relations and tech trading is to occur"

"And Earth has over 200 governments" Corazon said throwing the pad down onto the table "But we can't ignore them as we are certain to encounter them on other planets due to the Stargates"

"Trading with them may be a very big mistake" Jha'dur noted carefully "The nation state that controls the Stargate could quite easily turn on the others and destroy the planet as has happened many times before when interacting with planets of this nature"

"The decision is mine as is the responsibility" James said quietly "I will take a place on our next Wraith class stealth cruiser to go there and investigate the planet personally before making my decision"

"But" Jha'dur began

"If my decision has the potential to destroy the planet then I want to see it for myself and not rely on the reports of others" James cut her off "Both of you are perfectly capable of handling any crisis's in the handful of weeks I will be away"

"Alright" Corazon grudgingly agreed "If it was ultimately my responsibility whether a planet destroyed itself or not I believe I would want to judge it for myself as well. Before we end the meeting there are two other things we must discuss, _Isenguard _has begun Stargate operations at last and has already made an interesting discovery. The Goa'uld planet of origin that the Tok'ra Martouf Lantash provided the address for has indeed been proved to be the place that they evolved. I would like permission to set up a permanent outpost with a defence perimeter to defend against the native Unas and allow the scientists to study the Goa'uld in more detail"

"I see no problem with that" James replied "Just make sure that the outer defences are not lethal, I think that a sonic barrier would be most appropriate. How are the rest of the explorations coming?

"We have visited several uninhabited, primitive and abandoned worlds as we are scouting the worlds near us first" Corazon reported "So far nothing else of interest has been found"

James nodded before turning to Jha'dur "The fleet upgrades?" he queried

"The new sublight drives work perfectly" she said happily "Though the Firestorms and Command Carriers are still slower than Ha'tak's its not by much and the Icestorms, Hurricanes, Acclamators, drop ships and strike craft are all faster. The Command Carriers and First Strike Group under Commandant Pine are in the shipyards being upgraded as we speak, the new hyperspace drives are another matter" she cringed "While the drive itself worked perfectly the operating system had a significant flaw, it detected a star and rather than go around it it cut power to the drive as it would have done with an old style drive. Unfortunately the new drives are faster causing the frigate to drop out of hyperspace in the stars corona"

James and Corazon both winced at the thought of that "Did they survive?" James questioned hesitantly

"Thankfully the armour could withstand it" Jha'dur said with relief "Their a little singed but otherwise unharmed. I'm having the test drive transferred to the _Starlight _so more scientists and techs can be on board encase of a similar occurrence"

"That seems prudent" James said standing up "Right I have to go and borrow a stealth cruiser, I'll see you in four weeks"

* * *

_**Isenguard – **_**One Week Later**

General Santiago stood in the CIC onboard the starbase _Isenguard _watching as the recon rover, a modified remote controlled APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) disappeared through the event horizon just barley fitting through the Stargate. Such was the fate of most of their armour as all those pieces aboard _Isenguard _had to be scaled down and modified to fit through the gate but it had been done, eventually. She turned to the monitors displaying the telemetry from the Recon Rover as it reached the other side.

A man dressed in red clothing of advanced manufacture and with an advanced tech device on his wrist stepped into the Recon Rovers view "Nyan, what is it?" A female voice came from off screen

"I don't know" the man replied. The sensors automatically followed him until he returned to the side of his female companion.

"Greetings Nyan" General Santiago said "I am Corazon Santiago"

"Are you a mechanical life form?" Nyan asked hesitantly

"No I am communicating with you through the Recon Rover that you see before you" Corazon replied inwardly pleased. The fact that the man had even been able to think of a mechanical life form showed a high tech base

"From where?" Nyan asked

"From another planet" Corazon replied "We call it Kaitain"

"This is a trick. We must report this Nyan" his female companion said

"No, not yet" Nyan replied

"Why?" she asked

"Malin, I think we've found the gateway" He replied awestruck

"There is no gateway. That is Optrican legend" she replied with the conviction of a religious fanatic

"Well then how do you explain this? Nyan relied

"This could be very dangerous Nyan" Malin responded "Do you realise what this would mean?"

"It would mean we were wrong and the Optricans were right" Nyan replied

In the control room General Santiago was watching the conversation with interest. "There appears to be two schools of though prevalent on this planet" she thought "A controversial issue, IS1 would be the most appropriate team to send as they can get themselves out of trouble if this goes bad. We can't just ignore this planet though, they are the first technologically advanced planet that we have encountered through the Stargate" "Nyan" she said aloud "I would like to send a team though to learn about your planet if that's alright"

"Yes" Nyan replied

"No!" Malin exclaimed

"Excellent" General Santiago replied delighting in sticking it to the religious fanatic "We will be with you shortly" the last thing the recon rover transmitted before the gate shutdown was the female, Malin, running away.

* * *

_**Isenguard -**_** Briefing Room **

IS1, Corazon Santiago and the Vasudan archaeologist Memphis sat around the briefing room table as they discussed the mission. "The planet appears to be relatively advanced" General Santiago said "But does not have traditional space flight. Their appear to be two schools of though on the existence of the Stargate so Mical you will have to be very careful when interacting with the people and Atton you will have to be ready to make a quick getaway should one of the factions take offence. There appears to be no DHD so you will be taking a portable reactor to dial out manually and Memphis to conduct an archaeological survey and see if he can find it. If there are no questions then you leave within the hour"

* * *

**Jha'dur's Office – PKCC**_**Repulse **_

Jha'dur sat at her desk on _Repulse, _the flagship of the Astarii Battle Group, and reviewed the report that had just been sent from _Isenguard _detailing the deployment of IS1. "Excellent" she thought "That solves one of my most pressing problems" "Activate holotransmitter" she said aloud "Kaitain Shipyards, PKC _Starlight, _Commandant Pine's office" and then sat back and waited for Commandant Christopher Pine to acknowledge her transmission.

The translucent blue image of Commandant Pine appeared in front of her desk "Admiral Jha'dur" he said respectfully "How can I help you?"

"A situation has developed with the Stargate that fits one of our current problems perfectly" Jha'dur replied "IS1 is about to be deployed to a technologically advanced planet. This is where I am sending you to test the new hyperdrive, should you run into difficulties you will be able to call upon the resources of an advanced world, a functioning Stargate and an IS team to either repair the hyperdrive or await rescue"

"The installation was completed yesterday Admiral, we are simply taking on supplies at the moment. We shall be able to depart for the planet within the hour" Commandant Pine replied

"Excellent" Jha'dur said with relish "I fully expect a successful test this time, finally we will have something that can tip the balance of power back in our favour. Report back to me when you are ready to leave Commandant"

"Yes Admiral" he replied

* * *

**Coffee Bar – Washington DC, Earth**

Over the course of his life Grand Master James Koren had found that the best way to get a measure of a people without being taken notice of was to take a nice leisurely lunch in a public place and listen in on the peoples conversations. This was why he was currently in the queue of a 'Starbucks', whatever that meant, in Washington DC. Capitol of the nation state that controled the Earth Stargate

"Excuse me sir" The lady manning the till said to jar him back to the present

"I do apologise" James responded "I was miles away, how much do I owe you?"

"$25.50" the cashier replied "Your British then?"

James mentally calculated that to be 12 denari and 75 dactarians (¬12.75) "What gave it away?" James replied smiling, he had been warned that the accent he picked up on Coruscant in his early years sounded like a very upper class British one. It had been considered posh even in Great Britain itself.

"Your charming accent of course" the cashier replied handing him his change "I hope you enjoy your time in DC"

"Thank you, I'm sure I will " James replied before heading to the table he had noted was best placed to observe the other patrons

As he was coming to the end of his lunch the modified mobile phone he had been bleeped in a pattern to indicate an incoming holotransmission, quickly leaving the café James headed to the car park where the car that the Intelligence Directorate had provided him with was waiting. He calmly opened the door and slipped into the back seat of the spacious black SUV

"Where next sir?" his driver asked. While the force gave James the ability to learn the language in about 10 seconds reading and writing was another matter entirely, especially since the characters of the predominant languages were so different from those of galactic basic. The closest thing on Earth was an English speaker attempting to learn to read and write Chinese and this left James completely incapable of reading things like road signs when he first arrived to say nothing of actually learning to drive in the first place. Thankfully the Intelligence Directorate had enough resources to provide him with a car and a disruptor to drive him in the countries he'd visited so far.

"Nowhere at the moment thank you" James replied as he activated the privacy field sealing off the front seats from the back and tinting the windows, he placed his mobile in the specially designed slot in the bodywork that separated the two front seats.

A translucent blue Atton Rand appeared in miniature in the back of the car

"James" Atton said letting him know that it was a personal call. Had it been business Atton would have called him Grand Master or Master Koren

"Atton, what can I do for you?" James replied curious as to why Atton would be calling, he had only been gone a week after all

"I'm leading IS1 through the stargate in about 20 minuets" Atton said "and I have a really bad feeling about it. Got any last minuet advice?"

James knew better than to dismiss Atton's bad feelings. Of the three precognition abilities, battle, tactical and strategic, James himself excelled at both battle precognition, anticipating where an opponent will strike before he does it, and strategic precognition, such as sensing the enemy that lies in the dark aka the Yuuzhan Vong, before their arrival, Atton on the other hand was the best the Astarii Order had at tactical precognition giving him warnings of potentially calamitous events that were going to occur in his general vicinity in the very near future.

Bearing this in mind James gathered his thoughts and gave his best friend all the guidance and advice he could.

* * *

**Gate Room - **_**Isenguard**_

With the event horizon ~ 5 ½ meters in diameter the Tanks and APCs of the Peacekeepers could just fit through the Stargate, a fact that the IS teams were very grateful for and exactly what IS1 was boarding now. Jet black with red markings the Turtle class APC was very similar to the Raptor class tank. 5 meters across and 4 high the Turtle had sloped sides giving it the look of a flattened octagon from the front, the similar shaped missile launcher was placed dead centre of the APC half buried in the forward hull. The launcher carried 6 harpoon missiles for air intercept and the driver and weapons controller compartments were on either side of it, infantry protection was provided by four turreted pulse cannons on the four corners of the vehicle. The Turtle and Raptor differed in the back half, the Turtle had lost the ½ meter high turret and with it it's generator and the 6 additional missiles stored and had instead replaced it with a compartment to hold 8 troopers and a rear door to offload them under the covering fire from the rear pulse cannons. The twin tracks were placed directly under the sides to give it a minimal targeting profile and in all both the Turtle and the Raptor were very deadly machines.

"Which is why I am glad we are taking one" Atton thought to himself "I have a bad feeling about this mission. The Recon Rover, though it is a modified Turtle APC, is unarmed and the Turtle itself has little in the way of anti armour defences unless the target is far enough away to use the Harpoons. I'd love to take a couple of Raptor tanks as escort but with opinion regarding the Stargate as sensitive as it is on the other side that's not going to happen. What the hell I'm probably just over reacting, maybe they'll be a nice girl I can flirt with or a guy I can tease Mira and Brianna about while Mical does his negotiating thing"

He watched the other members of IS1 and Memphis board the Turtle as it powered up and turned to face the Stargate. Climbing in as the door sealed behind him Atton had only one thought as his sense of dread suddenly increased "I hope I can get us out of this if it all goes wrong"

The Stargate Operations team in the CIC watched the Turtle rumble though the gate, some of the more superstitious felt a shiver go down their spine

* * *

**Kaitain Shipyards – PKC **_**Starlight **_

Commandant Christopher Pine looked around the CIC of his Firestorm heavy cruiser and noticed the nervousness of his crew as _Starlight _left the shipyards and given the fate that nearly befell the previous test ship he couldn't blame them. "Helm" he ordered "Set course for MW621702"

"Yes sir" His helm officer replied "The planet is only a few systems away, if the test is successful we should reach it in a little over 5 hours"

Chris marvelled at the speed of the new hyperdrive. Such a journey with the old one would have taken a little under a day

"All decks report they are at action stations and all lose equipment has been secured" Colonel Chase Tyler reported his long blonde hair swaying as he looked up from his console

"Engineering reports the hyperdrive is operating within expected parameters and the scientists and techs are on hand for any problems. We are clear to conduct the hyperspace test" Commander Caleb Danvers reported standing straight backed and proud his muscular form providing a beacon of calm for the crew

"If this works" Commandant Pine said to the entire crew over the internal coms "Then our ships back home will be able to out fly anything in the galaxy. The GA's numbers will be useless if we can quickly deploy reinforcements when we know where they will strike, I am honoured that this ship and this crew have been chosen to complete the final test that could well ensure the Republics security for generations to come" Shutting down the internal coms he turned to his helm officer "take us to hyperspace" he ordered surreptitiously gripping the edge of the holo tank until his knuckles went white. He pretended not to notice as Chase Tyler and Caleb Danvers grabbed each others hand as _Starlight _launched into hyperspace

* * *

**Vorash – Tok'ra Base**

Aldwin, Martouf and Ren'al looked at the cart that they had stocked with goods. Travelling was always a risky proposition in the Goa'uld Empire even more so travelling between different System Lords domains. Ren'al and Martouf walked over to the racks holding filthy rags and tried to make the best of their predicament, Aldwin was trying to chose something from another rack of simple but sturdy and elegant designs. Hidden in the bottom of the cart was a chest containing the robes they would wear if they managed to make contact with the Republic, until then they would live the roles of a Chappa'ii wandering trader and his two slaves. Aldwin planned to make several stops along the way to make their trip seem authentic, they would be on Antak in two weeks

* * *

**Planet MW621702**

"Council Master Rand three aircraft approach" the captain of the Turtle reported

"Atton we cannot leave yet" Mical said "even if the Bedrosians are hostile we heed to make contact with the Optricans"

"We'll do it by ship come on" Atton replied shortly running for the gate to dial manually

Memphis ran to help Atton hoping his superior strength would allow them to dial faster unfortunately a golden force field appeared forming a square cutting them off from the Stargate "Captain target their engines, shoot them down!" Atton yelled into his comlink as the force field began to shrink forcing them closer together. "I do not want to find out what happens if it touches us" he thought

Just then an orange missile trail leapt from the Turtle as it launched a Harpoon air to air / surface to air missile, flying straight passed the shuttle it slowed, turned and then proximity detonated near the aircrafts engines. Rocked by the explosion the aircraft quickly began to lose height and gain forward momentum as it came in for a crash landing some distance away

Atton and Memphis ran back to the gate as the other two craft finished disgorging their troops and took off making sure to manuver evasively to avoid the Turtle gaining a solid missile lock. As dismembering the Bedrosians would probably only make things worse, the weapons firing a wave to large for a lightsaber to deflect and with enemy air support lightsaber combat was a risky business anyway IS1 found cover and returned fire using their pulse pistols, as soon as the Bedrosians came into range the Turtle opened up with its pulse cannons as well. Unfortunately the Bedrosians continued to flank them and with such a large amount of fire from three sides and hostile air support Atton knew that their would be no getting back to the gate without all of them getting killed.

The Stargate activated as Atton yelled into his comlink "Taking fire request immediate armour support" Memphis shut down the gate before Atton could shove him through like he'd been planning. Atton glared as Memphis gave him a 'what can you do' shrug as they both drew their pulse pistols and tried to find cover. "I only hope that Corazon listened to my bad feeling and had reinforcements standing by" Atton thought

His feverent hopes were answered when the Stargate activated again, rumbling through the event horizon came two Raptor tanks and another Turtle APC, shocked by the appearance of the Raptors and Turtle the Bedorisians stopped firing but Atton had no doubt they would start again if they should try to retreat back through the Stargate.

They were trapped

* * *

Reviewing take 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself.


	5. Nothing is as it Seems

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualise. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Review Responses **

My thanks to all of you who have reviewed nicely

* * *

**Chapter 17 Nothing is as it Seems **

**MW345206**** – Peacekeeper Surface Forces**

Council Master Atton Rand paced getting ready to put his battle plan into action. The Bedrosians were waiting for reinforcements before they attacked again but with the greater sensor range of the Raptors they would have about 10 minuets warning before they arrived. It had been over 4 hours since reinforcements came through the gate but given that they had to shuttle troops from front lines that were a considerable distance away Brianna estimated another hour before they could get here. Atton had been busy reinforcing his position with boulders from the excavation the Stargate placing them between the armoured vehicles to make a barricade from behind which his Peacekeeper troops and Astarii could fight. "This would be so much easier if those dam weapons could be reflected by lightsabers" Atton thought. Just like Geonosian sonic blasters the Bedrosian weapons were causing huge problems for the Astarii, of course with the force they were still very dangerous as the Bedrosians were about to find out. Atton walked over to Bao Dur, Mira and Memphis who were positioned in the centre of the barricade

"Is the DHD uncovered?" Atton asked Memphis quietly speaking in galactic basic so that the Bedrosians would not be able to tell what he was saying, he kept his back to them just in case

"Yes" Memphis responded making sure his translator was set to the same language "I arranged it so that the enemy thought we were simply taking more boulders, they cannot see it"

"Good" Atton responded "Get in the Turtle, all hell is going to break lose soon and I want to keep the casualties to a minimum" Memphis nodded and headed to the Turtle on the right flank "How are the Bedrosian positions looking?" he asked Mira

Mira had been using her force sight to keep track of all living things, including Bedrosian troops no matter what attempts they made to hide "Unchanged after their last attempt at a surprise flank" Mira said smugly. Moving under camouflage in the tree line the Bedrosians had attempted to rush passed the Turtle on the left flank and trap the Peacekeepers behind their own barricade. Unfortunately for them Mira had informed Atton and they ran into a hail of pulse fire that cost them a large chunk of their troops and made the internal security reinforcements they received wary enough about taking them on to call for heavy backup from the front lines.

"Spread the word" Atton commanded "Once this starts it's going to happen fast"

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight – **_**Hyperspace**

"Another benefit of the new hyperspace drive" Commandant Christopher Pine mused "is that you can receive communications whilst travelling" He looked down at his orders from Council Master Atton Rand. As soon as _Starlight_ dropped out of hyperspace they were to take up a geostationary orbit directly over the stargate and deploy her Tempest dropship and it's gunship compliment

_Starlight _exited hyperspace and kept her stealth field down waiting for her presence to be detected

* * *

**MW345206**** – Peacekeeper Surface Forces**

One of the most interesting pieces of tech on the Turtle was the directional com system. Designed to activate any form of transmitter that the target was wearing it was used by Turtles to activate the communicators of enemy commanders without them realising and then hack the resulting broadcast of their conversations. Usually this was used to give a few seconds warning of enemy battle manuvers, now Atton was using it for a little psychological warfare. As the Bedrosian commander and his second had the conversation he had been waiting for Atton gave the signal.

Bao Dur patched the signal into the speakers on the Turtles and Raptors so that everyone could hear

"They came through the circle we all saw it! And now a ship almost two metra long has appeared in orbit!"

"It is a trick, a contrivance, Optrican physiological warfare simulating their gateway to undermine our most basic beliefs" the commander said with confidence. His second was not so sure

"There are living breathing aliens amongst them, especially that tall sand coloured one. No prosthetics or robot could fake that, what if they're telling the truth? What if it is a gateway and the Optricans are right?" she said hesitatingly

"No! It's a lie. Those so called aliens were probably grown in a laboratory. Freaks designed to destroy our will to fight along with this gateway illusion" the commander replied

"But how can you be sure? Especially since a spacecraft a hundred times larger than anything the Optricans has just appeared in orbit in orbit"

"I am sure because we have not spent our lives praying to a god who does not exist and many of our people have not died fighting a meaningless war. I've studied the Book of Nefertum word for word, cover to cover. It is the truth." He said patronisingly

"What if its not?"

"It IS the truth. We began HERE." He shouted looking like the worst kind of fanatic ignoring all evidence that he didn't like

"Actually you didn't" Atton's voice was made clear and loud over the speakers of the Turtles and Raptors "I was born on Nar Shaddar, the smugglers moon, and many others here were born on many different planets throughout the galaxy and as for the Book of Nefertum" he laughed pityingly "Nefertum is a Goa'uld, a parasitical race that take human hosts and uses advanced technology to pose as their gods to enslave them. I actually hope you meet. Just so you can know how foolish you were before he destroys your civilisation as a threat to his power."

"Kill them!" the commander screamed overcome with rage

The Bedrosian troops opened fire and their aircraft began to lift off

The twin barrels of the Raptors main armament, a Subach HL7 turret, recoiled as they fired purple bolts at the rising aircraft as red bolts from the Peacekeeper troopers battered the Bedrosian front line, the Astarii stood up allowing their personal shields and armour to absorb any weapons that hit them and used force whirlwinds, force pushes and stasis fields on the Bedrosian troops. Atton himself used the force to direct two thermal detonators into the two largest concentrations of Bedrosian troops blowing them sky high as 4 of the 6 aircraft crashed back to the ground in flaming wreckage as victims of the Raptors.

As the more numerous Bedrosian troops rallied and began to send a steady volume of fire back at the Peacekeepers their 2 remaining aircraft dodged and weaved attempting to make attack run without being shot down. They failed as missiles streaked in from above blasting them into fiery pieces as _Starlight's _Tempest class dropship and its gunship compliment entered the fray.

At over 1km long the Firestorms carried a sizable space marine compliment and a large amount of military hardware and so were provided with a dropship should they need to conduct planetary warfare without Acclamator support. "Which is a dam good thing for me as _Starlight _was already on its way here" Atton thought as he leaped on board one of the three Eagle gunships that had landed and opened their troop compartments to take his forces aboard. The guns of the Turtles and Raptors fell silent as 4 Kestrel gunships closed in on them. Kestrels were identical to Eagles except that their troop compartments had been removed and replaced with a magnetic grapple compartment allowing them to pick up or place Turtles and Raptors on the battlefield as required and that is exactly what these 4 did closing in on Atton's Turtles and Raptors and lifting them to safety in the air.

The Bedrosian troops would probably have had something to say about this but they were slightly busy as five more Eagles were using the laser beam ball turrets in their wings to straif their positions causing fires and shockwaves equivalent to Al-Kesh bombs that had them all diving for cover.

As the Tempest continued back into orbit to rendezvous with the _Starlight_ the gunships turned around and settled back onto the ground without opposition. At the same time the supposedly dead Bedrosian second in command got up "Ok" she said "Anyone got any ideas where we went wrong?"

* * *

**Antak – Village Tavern **

The Tok'ra had been on Antak for several days and had spent that time in the village tavern in their guise as traders, hiding in plain sight. Aldwin had just finished making a trade with one of the villagers for fur pelts when another walked up to him "Those necklaces you were showing earlier?" the non descript man asked

Aldwin waved at Ren'al who scurried over to the cart bringing back a box filled with leather necklaces each done in different patterns and a few interwoven with metal and beads. The stranger looked carefully at several containing metal and Aldwin played the consummate trader "This one would look lovely on your sweetheart" he said holding up one of the most expensive with naquada inlay "It would most likely gain you several favours"

"More like a lecture on how I can't be trusted shopping" the man responded with a laugh "What about this one?" he said picking up a plain leather braid

"Nice" Aldwin responded "But not quite in the same league as this" he said holding up a deep brown leather braid with silver inlay

"Yes, very… Astarii…" the main said quietly

Aldwin showed no outward change but inside he quickly focused on the man his symbiote, Kal'ara, was complimentary "_Very nicely done_" he thought to Aldwin "_I doubt a Tok'ra could have done better, anyone will just think it's a term for beautiful or elegant that they have not heard before_"

"How much" man asked

"½ an ounce of naquada" Aldwin responded

"You thief" the Peacekeeper Disruptor said good naturedly "I'll give you an 1/8 ounce of naquada or ½ ounce of gold"

In the resulting haggling a note was passed. 4 hours, 2 km due west. Aldwin quickly gathered the others and after removing the robes box, hid the cart and set out into the woods

"I wish they would just let us come by Stargate" Natalie, Ren'al's host said

"It is good security precaution" Martouf replied "If the negotiations are fruitful then they probably will but at the moment they have no idea of our intentions and in a similar situation we would never let others know the location of the Tok'ra base"

"Perfectly correct Martouf" an Astarii who had once been one of his guards while working on the sublight drives responded stepping out of the shadows

"_How did you do that?" _Kal'ara demanded

Deciding to indulge them the Astarii answered "One of the force powers you can learn is camouflage, the ability to wrap the shadows around yourself and blend in with the background, peoples eyes simply slide off. This way please" he lead the three Tok'ra to a nearby clearing where a tri winged shuttle roughly the size of a Tel'tak cargo ship stood

"This is one of our Thunder class shuttles and if you'll come aboard we'll begin our journey. Thankfully the Goa'uld who now claims this world has stationed no ships in orbit so we should have little trouble"

The shuttle lifted off and blasted into the night sky heading for Kaitain

* * *

**MW345206**** – Optrican Territory**

Atton jumped down from the Eagle gunship and walked across to meet the previously 'dead' Optrican commander and her second and caught the end of two friends teasing each other

"You made a very credible Bedrosian Osara" the commander teased "perhaps I should be worried about you converting and killing me in my sleep"

Osara pretended to look thoughtful before replying "You know that's not a bad idea Tria, I've always wanted my own command" he said laughingly as his commander punched him lightly on the shoulder

"Council Master Rand" Commander Tria said as she noticed his approach "Well the round of drinks are on you when we get back to the barracks today"

"I look forward to it" Atton replied with a flirtatious smile "It was a close run thing though, you almost had us with that flanking manuver"

"Unfortunately close doesn't cut it in battle, unless your talking about an artillery shell" Tria shot back just as flirtatiously

Atton gave a little chuckle hoping that this meant he was in with a chance after the drinks tonight "True enough. I must thank the Optrican government again for the chance to conduct these war games"

"Not a problem" Tria replied "It allows us to develop tactics against a gate based invasion as much as it allows you to test your equipment and your own gate combat tactics." She headed towards one of the modern air transports not the remote controlled ones that the Peacekeepers had shot down "would you care to ride with me on the way back to the barracks?"

"Oh yeh" Atton thought as he headed to the Optrican craft. Inwardly he remained thankful that he had listened to his bad feeling and called James for advice, otherwise this could have been all to real

* * *

**MW345206****, Bedrosian Territory – One week Previously **

**Planet MW621702 – Bedrosian Territory**

Nyan leapt back in surprise as another red and black armoured vehicle appeared though the gateway. Larger than the first but of a similar design this one was armed. The back split open allowing the people inside to leave the APC.

Mira and Brianna began connecting the reactor to the Stargate to send the Recon Rover back though as Mical went to speak to Nyan

"Hello Nyan" Mical said approaching him as the others left the Turtle. Nyan did not respond he had gone white and was hyperventilating, seemingly at something behind Mical, turning around Mical smiled when he realised what had caused this reaction. He motioned them forward. "Nyan" he tried again "This is Bao Dur and is Memphis. Bao Dur is Irridonain and Memphis is Vasudan"

Nyan finally regained the power of speech. "The legend is true" he gasped

"What legend is that" Bao Dur asked curiously in his soft tones

"The Optricans believe humans were brought here by aliens who travelled through a gateway but during the upheaval the gateway was buried and the aliens could no longer come through" Nyan replied breathlessly still staring at Bao Dur and Memphis

"What was the upheaval?" Memphis questioned. As the Vasudan language was so complex the translator was a couple of seconds behind his natural speech

"A period of violent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions" Nyan replied his confidence returning as they talked of archaeology "They covered most of this continent about 2,000 years ago"

"If the Stargate has been buried that long how did you know where to look for it?" Memphis questioned "Where their any surviving records or legends that told of it's location?"

"No theirs nothing that survives from that time except the Bedrosian holy book and the Optrican legend." Nyan said "I wasn't looking for the gateway, I was looking for a primitive settlement that was supposed to be here before the upheaval. I was hoping to prove the Bedrosian theory"

Nyan jumped as the Stargate activated and the Recon Rover went back through and suddenly Atton heard his friends voice in his head, a memory of the advice he had asked James for "If you have a bad feeling make sure you have the option of retreat at the first sign of trouble, it takes time to dial the gate manually so when you send the Recon Rover back through I would suggest leaving it active until the 38 minuets are up. You can never have to many options." "Brianna!" he called out "Leave the gate active just in case we have to make a quick exit. Brianna nodded and she and Mira left the gate active and came over to join them

"What's the Bedrosian theory" Mical asked recapturing everyone's attention

"That human life was created Bedrosia, without a gateway" Nyan said

IS1 and Memphis all looked at the ground. This would complicate things, if people genuinely believed that they were created here then the revelation that their were humans populating millions of planets over two galaxies would not go over well.

"This planet is called Bedrosia?" Mical questioned

"This continent" Nyan replied "Optrica is a rival continent, we have been at war for decades"

Atton groaned "This will end badly" he thought "How close are we to the front lines?" he asked shuddering as he recalled the memories of the ground campaigns in the Mandalorian and Yuuzhan Vong wars

"A great distance, there is no need for concern" Nyan responded

"Famous last words" Mira muttered

Atton turned to berate her for tempting fate when he heard aircraft approaching. From the look on her face Mira heard them to "I just had to say it didn't I" she said despairingly

"_Council Master Rand three aircraft approach_" the captain of the Turtle reported

"NO NO NO!" Nyan blurted out "We have to hide, my peoples internal security force is coming"

"Atton we cannot leave yet" Mical said "even if the Bedrosians are hostile we heed to make contact with the Optricans"

"We'll do it by ship come on" Atton replied shortly

The Turtle rumbled around on its tracks performing a speedy U turn and heading back through the gate as the rest of IS1 followed. Nyan panicking at a religious enforcement organisation more feared than the Spanish Inquisition fled though as well leaving Atton as the last, he quickly stooped to enter an access code that would cause the reactor to turn into molten slag before heading through the stargate leaving Bedrosia behind

5 hours later the _Starlight's_ Tempest dropship would pay a visit and remove both the Stargate and DHD using its tractor beams, the Optrican capitol played host to the Republic delegation that same day.

* * *

**James Koren's ****SUV – Approaching Las Vegas**

As his SUV sped along the motorway heading for Las Vegas James Koren looked at the reports that Jha'dur's and Corazon's flag lieutenants had sent him. Both were dealing very well with the day to day running of the expedition and had dispatched a shuttle to pick up the Tok'ra. It seemed that when Atton returned they were going to meet with the Tok'ra and begin negotiations. James smiled "I hoped that something like this would happen" he thought "Both have excellent abilities within their own fields as does Atton but none have ever commanded an expedition such as this and it's unique challenges, diplomacy first among them. This will be valuable experience for them so that they can take command in the event that I am killed" James was under no illusions that he was immortal despite how skilled and lucky he was. He was well aware that he could be killed by a Goa'uld Ashrak next a month, have _Repulse _blown out from under him next week or slip and break his neck getting out of the shower tomorrow morning "And in that case" he thought "I want my subordinates able to take over swiftly and effectively. I'll keep an eye on them and stop them making any major mistakes but I'll let them do this themselves" This would be a trial by fire for them, just as Bedrosia was a trial by fire for Peacekeeper equipment and gate combat tactics

Picking up another report he read a detailed account of the conflict on Bedrosia. "Excellent" he thought "Our gate born forces performed very well against an enemy with superior training and tactics than the Goa'uld. Had Atton chosen an actual assault rather than extraction then additional forces could have been sent and the probability of success would have been very high. It appeared that Atton had also learned a great deal about command including the one thing that was more important than destroying an enemy. Destroying their will to fight. "I think we are finally ready" James thought with great satisfaction "We can strike at targets of opportunity and when the situation is right to begin the campaign we can do so without fear of our equipment or tactics being flawed"

The campaign that James had been working on ever since the Intelligence Directorate had informed him of the state of the Goa'uld Empire was elegant in its simplicity and, hopefully, brilliant in it's effectiveness. With Sokar very close to overpowering the System Lord Collective the entire galaxy was a powder keg waiting to blow and eventually something was going to set it off, when it did and the System Lords and Sokar were fully engaged against each other the Republic would move against the minor Goa'uld taking them out one by one. No System Lord could afford to dispatch the forces required to take on the Peacekeepers without leaving themselves vulnerable to Sokar or the other System Lords and Sokar couldn't dispatch any forces for the same reason. Once the minor Goa'uld were dealt with fixed defences would be hurriedly built in the new territory, well away from any local population which would have the Stargate removed and be allowed to develop naturally, while the two sides continued to pound the crap out of each other. Once the System Lords were victorious, and if necessary the GRP would intervene to ensure this outcome, Republic space would be so fortified and the System Lords so weak after such a major war that they would have to meet to negotiate a joint force to destroy the GRP presence in the galaxy. That was when the Intelligence Directorate would strike, taking out the entire Goa'uld leadership in one fell swoop. As the various lieutenants carved up the System Lords domains amongst themselves and fought each other for dominance then the Peacekeepers would take out the most powerful one by one until the Goa'uld were wiped out.

Soon the Goa'uld would learn the folly of taking on the Peacekeepers

James picked up another report from the Intelligence Directorate marked urgent. "Interesting" he thought "This certainly comes under targets of opportunity" The report detailed the movements of a particular Goa'uld Queen who, due to recent circumstances, had only a few hundred Jaffa and no ships at her command. "The Science Directorate has been after me for some time to procure a modern Goa'uld Queen to compare to the ones on their home world so that they can chart their evolution" James mused "To say nothing of the intelligence she could provide. It appears that in just over two weeks she will finish gathering all her remaining resources and is then planning to escape by Stargate to a little known world in Ra's former domain, that seems to be the best place to capture her. Unfortunately we will never be able to hide the tracks of a Stargate borne assault force, I will have to send forces by ship. No matter this is worth the deployment of the First Strike Group and the PKA _Ascendant_ and I only have two more cities to see anyway, I can check them out while the First Strike Group is travelling and then meet them on the way. I best request IS1, minus Atton, as well since a capture mission is one of the most difficult to pull off."

As he reached for the holotransmitter to send his orders to Jha'dur he checked the name of the Goa'uld

Amonet

* * *

Reviewing take 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself.

James Koren will still have a boyfriend. I'm simply changing some things and a suggestion from Trife and a little experience and confidence is making me consider a couple of other candidates…

Pity. I did so want to put Lock out an airlock for (almost) killing Boone :( ah well


	6. First Steps

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualise. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Note**

The population of Kaitain and size of the 501st Legion may seem large given that a Ha'tak can transport only 2,000 troops, has a much smaller crew and most Goa'uld worlds populations number in the low millions at absolute best but I think it is about right. My reason is this…

During the reign of Elizabeth I, which is actually more advanced than the tech level of the Goa'uld slave worlds as we were using gunpowder weapons by that point, England's population fluctuated between 3 and 5 million. In today's industrialised society it is more than 60 million which means that any single GRP world is going to have the same resources as several Goa'uld ones and as Kaitain is going to function as the military and political capitol for all GRP planets in the entire Milky Way galaxy no expense was spared in it's colonisation.

* * *

**James Koren's Age/Timeline**

Mandalorian Wars Start: Age 14

Rogue Jedi join Republic Army: Age 16

Massacre at Malachor V: Age 19

Jedi Civil War start: Age 20

Jedi Civil War end: Age 22

Sith Triumvirate: Age 24

Battle At Arnessk: Age 24

Founding of the GRP: Age 26

Enter Stasis: Age 29

Yuuzhan Vong War Start: Age 29

Yuuzhan Vong War End: Age 33

Current Age: Age 34

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all of you who have reviewed nicely

* * *

**Chapter 6 ****First Steps**

**Starbase **_**Isenguard**_** – One week after Optrican war games**

Admiral Jha'dur quickly strode across the C&C before entering Corazon Santiago's office. The placement of the offices of the command staff were telling, Jha'durs was on the PKCC _Repulse _showing her responsibility was the fleet, Corazon's was here on Indomitable class starbase _Isenguard _showing her greatest responsibility was the Stargate, Atton's was on Kaitain in the Astarii enclave as that was his greatest responsibility when IS1 was not required and James's was on board starbase _Defiance of the Night _overseeing everyone else. She entered to find that Atton had already returned from Optrica "Ah Atton" she said "Your back. Good"

"I left Mical doing his diplomacy thing" Atton said from the his place against the wall. "As the two continents were already at war when we arrived it's not like we could make the situation any worse. The worst we could do is rearrange the sides"

Corazon had always had back trouble after a particularly nasty injury in the Yuuzhan Vong War and so she worked standing up which explained the unusual height of her desk. Then she discovered that tedious meetings with her junior officers went much faster if they had to stand as well and so out went the chairs*

"How are the Bedrosians responding? Jha'dur questioned

"The more scientific among them are questioning the theological governments response now they know the gateway is true and aliens exist" Atton responded "They are being rounded up and executed as is anyone who attempts to protest"

"And that" Corazon spat "Is why religion should never be allowed within 100 miles of government. It's a wonderful thing if it has a secular government to keep it in check and vice versa "

"People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people" Atton muttered*

"What?" the other two questioned

"Just something James says" Atton replied

"Anything else of note?" Corazon asked from behind her desk to break the silence

"I've instructed Mical to let them have our pulse technology" Atton said carefully "Though we wouldn't normally trade this I felt in this case the danger of increasing their weapons capability was outweighed by the suppressing of their own weapons technology and with the actions of Bedrosia I don't think anyone in the expedition will object to increasing the Optricans firepower"

"Why Atton that's almost as sneaky as Jha'dur" Corazon replied teasingly "They pay dearly for something that we actually want them to have and at the same time we erase one of the most potent anti Astarii weapons before it enters the black market"

"Everyone's gotta have a good idea once in a while right?" Atton replied inwardly pleased with the praise

"Indeed" Jha'dur responded amusedly "But unfortunately for you your moment of brilliance has roped you into helping us"

Atton froze like a deer in the headlights "I don't like where this is heading" he said worriedly

"The Tok'ra representatives are due to arrive within the today" Corazon explained "With James away the three of us are the most senior and if he does not return soon then we will have to negotiate with them. In any case me and Jha'dur are going to handle the initial stages and you Atton, are going to help us"

"Eeep" was the only sound a suddenly terrified Atton could make. He quickly walked over to Corazon's holotransmitter built into the floor at the centre of the room. "Let's just check that James doesn't want us to simply entertain them until he returns to negotiate in person" he said praying that James would want exactly that.

"Sorry Atton" Corazon said with a smile "Grand Master Koren has already left Earth and rendezvoused with the First Strike Group on the way to hit a very interesting target. That's why we recalled the rest of IS1 with the exception of you and Mical. He's currently 2 days away from his destination but over a week away from Katain and has already called to say that the three of us are going to have to negotiate with the Tok'ra"

"First things first then" Atton said quickly recovering "We should order the 3Rs to the opposite side of Kaitain to the Tok'ra and remove any mention of Command Carriers from the databanks and change references them to references to the modified Firestorm command cruisers. The Carriers are our ace in the hole, James wants to keep them secret as long as possible"

"Agreed" Corazon replied "Which just leaves us with the task of actually negotiating"

"Well were not going to go into that room until we know exactly what we're doing!" Jha'dur declared

"That could take years" Atton moaned

* * *

**Victory at Corellia**** Spaceport, Lothlorien City, Kaitain – 12 hours later**

Ren'al had watched the defences visible on approach to Kaitain with awe but nothing had delighted and terrified her as much as the view of the Supergate in orbit. Martouf and Aldwin were both still stunned as well. "Is it not unheard of for a Stargate to be such a size?" Natalie questioned in shock "_Yes" _Ren'al replied _"In the entire galaxy no one has ever seen anything like it. We must have been allowed to see it as it will be important in the negotiations, perhaps the main reason why such a heavily fortified and populated system is referred to as an expedition" _she mused

The shuttle landed and the three Tok'ra exited the shuttle to be met by an honour guard of 12 Peacekeeper troops on either side. A humanoid female alien with cat like eyes waited at the end of the guard in a resplendent red and black uniform. The Tok'ra walked down the isle towards the woman _"I am Councillor Ren'al of the Tok'ra" _Ren'al introduced herself

"I am Admiral Jha'dur of the Peacekeepers" The woman replied "This way please" she said indicating a stylish enclosed air speeder. Her two companions in cream tunics with sapphire embroidery accompanied them into the air speeder while the troops entered one of two escorting military craft

As the air speeder took off Jha'dur began to speak again "I am taking you to the hotel Majestic which will be your residence while you are here. The troops following are your guards, two of which will accompany each of you at all times when you leave your hotel suite. You are free to move around this city though it is preferred that you do not leave it until our negotiations are concluded. Tomorrow you will meet with myself, General Corazon Santiago of the Peacekeepers and Council Master Atton Rand of the Astarii we form the committee which you will negotiate with, and we will give you a tour of Lothlorien City. Two days from now when everyone has hopefully had enough time to research any relevant information and prepare their case the negotiations will begin"

"_That is very reasonable_" Ren'al responded inwardly a little shocked about how much freedom of movement they would have _"I have one question, Grand Master James Koren is the leader of this expedition is he not? Might I ask why he is not meeting with us?" _

"We received information about an very promising target and the Grand Master wished to lead the assault personally" Jha'dur responded telling the truth but being intentionally vague "He is not due to return to Kaitain for another 14 days and until that time his three main subordinates command the expedition in an executive council"

Ren'al inwardly debated whether to wait for the Grand Master to return "_No" _she thought "_his absence is merely a bad case of timing rather than an insult or dismissal of the Tok'ra and his subordinates may not have as much experience in negotiations as him which will work to our advantage" _While she did wish to form an alliance and a fair trade Ren'al, like any member of a negotiating party, whished for her side to gain the most benefits. _"I see" _she said aloud_ "Simply a case of bad timing then. The Tok'ra have no problems negotiating with the executive committee"_

Lantash was surprised by the disappointment that flooded through his host at that statement. Surely the Grand Master being absent was better for the Tok'ra? "_I will have to ask Martouf about it at a later date" _he thought

"Dam" thought Jha'dur "There went my last chance to get out of this" "Excellent" she said aloud "Do you have any other questions?"

"I have some from my last time here" Martouf spoke up "I was curious about the names of your starbases, especially Isenguard, the other technologically advanced races we have encountered that use the stargate usually call their command facilities 'Stargate Command' 'Gate Com' 'The Stargate Project' or something similar"

"Ah" Jha'dur responded "Yes the names did raise a few eyebrows to use a human term. _Defiance of the Night_ is so named as that is the purpose of this expedition, to gather technology to better enable us to defend against our enemies who would like to extinguish the light that is our civilisation" she held up her hand to forestall any questions "Information on the history and current state of the Galactic Republic of Planets is waiting for you in your hotel room for you to analyse before our meeting tomorrow" Turning back to Martouf she continued "In ancient legend the Fortress of Isenguard guarded the Gap of the West, the only pass through the grey mountains, by controlling the waters of the river Isen that flowed across the gap. It stood for thousands of years and repulsed many attacks. When the stargate, a gateway seemingly containing water, was put into use it seemed the most appropriate name for the facility that would protect us from the dangers that could come through"

"You put a great deal of weight on your history" Martouf observed

"All of this has happened before, All of this will happen again was a saying of the Jedi who used it to justify their stagnation" Jha'dur replied "The Galactic Republic of Planets places a great emphasis on our history so that we may learn from our mistakes and step forward into the future with confidence knowing that while we will probably make many new mistakes we will never repeat old ones"

Inwardly impressed by the attitude of the Republic the Tok'ra eagerly anticipated the information awaiting them at Hotel Majestic

* * *

**Hotel Majestic – Kaitain**

The Tok'ra read the summary of the history of the GRP in shock

"It can't be real" Aldwin gasped

"Look around" Martouf answered "This is not a homeworld, it has been permanently settled for a little over a year. Do you know of any other way that the sheer amount of prefabrication and construction required for a rapid colonisation and fortification could have been provided?"

"A Supergate" Ren'al whispered "A gate to connect one galaxy to another. The Republic is more than capable of providing things to make this alliance worthwhile. Martouf continue reading the summary and investigating anything you see as relevant, Aldwin you are to help me analyse their recent history in great detail, I want to try and predict what they will ask for in the negotiations"

None of the Tok'ra delegation would get much sleep that night

* * *

**Scientific Quarter, Lothlorien City**** – The next day, Midday **

Councillor Ren'al was being given a tour of the scientific quarter by Admiral Jha'dur and was greatly enjoying the experience

"_The size and scope of your scientific facilities is very impressive" _she said

"Thank you" Jha'dur replied "I certainly enjoyed my time in the scientific quarter on Omelos"

"_You were a scientist?" _Renal questioned

"Yes" Jha'dur replied "I was an orphan so I had to fight hard to get a scholarship to get out of the slums, as science was my best subject I ended up in the biochemistry laboratories"

"_A great achievement when facing such a challenge" _Ren'al complimented pleased to meet a fellow biochemist _"What made you join the Peacekeepers?"_

Knowing that it was all available in the historical records Jha'dur replied "The Scarren war" she said quietly "The Scarren Imperium was the last major threat the GRP faced before the Yuuzhan Vong, they attacked without warning and were pushing us back. I was a military scientist and we were drafted into the Alpha Red Initiative. I was the creator of Alpha Red, a tailorable bio weapon able to be targeted with DNA samples to take out a single individual with no harm to others or to eliminate an entire species. Thankfully the Chiss Ascendancy was worried about a more aggressive Scarren Imperium with no Republic to keep them in check so they pitched into the Scarren's rear and helped us win the war, with Alpha Red no longer needed I transferred to the Peacekeepers as I still wanted to make a difference, and the rest is history."

Thinking of her own bio weapons project Ren'al decided to gauge the GRP's reaction_ "Would you ever have used it?" _she questioned

"Until the Chiss entered the war defeat seemed certain" Jha'dur replied "I would like to think that we would have used it on a single military installation as a 'hey look what we can do to you, now don't you want to begin peace negotiations?' demonstration"

She turned to look out over the city below "But the war was going so badly I don't know, may the force forgive us I do not know"

* * *

**Restaurant District, Lothlorien City ****– Midday**

Eager to try new things Aldwin had requested that General Santiago take him to the restaurant district for lunch so that he could try cuisine from across the GRP. Currently Corazon was enjoying watching as while finishing her own meal she had neglected to mention to Aldwin that the next sample he was going to try may look like simple onion rings but there was a reason it was known as the 'rings of fire'. The sudden choking and shocked expression on Aldwin's face had sent her into hysterics

"That was not funny" Aldwin said still choking down water

"_No it was hilarious" _Kal'ara thought laughing

"So what is your homeworld like?" Aldwin asked once he had recovered

"My homeworld" Corazon replied getting a distant look on her face as her Spanish accent became more pronounced "I was born on the planet Teladi. It was nice enough but there were problems with gangs all the time, my parents moved us there to try to help vulnerable youngsters stay out of the gangs. When the Scarren War put all the GRP's resources into fighting for it's survival gang war exploded across Teladi and the Peacekeepers had no strength to spare. My parents were killed by one of the gangs for sheltering youngsters from their recruitment drives so I left and joined the Peacekeepers. The Grand Army of the Republic is my home now.

Aldwin suddenly lost interest in his food

* * *

**Museum Quarter, Lothlorien City**** – Midday **

"Do you not like museums and art galleries Master Rand?" Martouf questioned turning round unexpectedly and catching Atton with a look of sheer ' I want to kill myself' boredom on his face

Atton flushed with embarrassment due to being caught out "Not really my seen you know?" he replied "This stuff was always more James's thing. I remember when we went to Argon on holiday, the rest of us had to literally drag him out of the library and he still took half a dozen books on local history to the beach" Atton smiled at the memory "He'd love to take you round these places"

"I'd like that" Martouf replied "Shall we go somewhere you will enjoy as well?"

As they left the museum Atton looked at him calculatingly, a plan forming in his mind

* * *

**Atton Rand's Office, ****Astarii Enclave – Evening**

Corazon stood against the stone wall as Atton and Jha'dur sat in two of the brown armchairs set in one corner of the office.

"We need to prioritise technological assistance" Atton said "What is most important and what is least important so that we can bargain without having to stop and confer every time we need to drop one"

"The Tok'ra have no large military force" Jha'dur observed "Therefore their knowledge of the Goa'uld ship to ship plasma weapons is likely to be limited. Much as we would like help adapting them to our own plasma based HL7 Turbolasers I don't think they will be able to provide much help"

"I agree" Corazon said "That can go at the bottom of the list. As can the ring transporters, though they are the most complicated we can still just steal them in large numbers so they are not the most pressing concern"

"The new hybrid sublight drives and hyperdrives work perfectly" Jha'dur reported "So we can lose those from the list altogether but the new modifications and planned upgrades are severely taxing the fusion reactors. We desperately need to understand the naquada power generation technology so that we can power our ships after we install all these upgrades"

"And if we don't then the upgrades are worse than useless because the ship won't have enough power to even make it out of the shipyards" Atton extrapolated "That has to go to the top of the list then"

"They have many Tel'tak cargo ships" Corazon spoke up "and so must be familiar with the shielding and cloaking systems of the Goa'uld both of which could come in very handy given the limited effect of our defence screens and Minbari derived stealth fields"

"The stealth fields can cover a much larger area than Goa'uld cloaks though" Atton said thoughtfully "We could offer a straight trade as the stealth fields would be able to hide their underground bases from all but the most intensive orbital search and even then the enemy would have only a vague location"

"An excellent point" Jha'dur noted "That should be very valuable to them"

"That leaves us with the two types of crystals" Corazon said "Tunnel crystals will make mining considerably easier and as we are going to need to mine this 'naquada' I think it should go near the top of the list"

"Agreed" Atton responded "but the crystals as computers tech, while nice is not necessary for any of our projects so I think it should go at the bottom of the pile"

"Alright then" Jha'dur summarised "Naquada power, shields, tunnel crystals, weapons, ring transporters and crystal computers with a straight trade for the cloaking tech"

"Sounds about right" Atton replied "Now lets get some sleep while we can. I don't think we will have much time tomorrow"

* * *

**Kaitain Sector Citadel, Lothlorien City – The next day**

The Sector Citadel contained all of the bureaucracy and institutions necessary for the government of Kaitain and would one day govern the surrounding sector as well, only the Astarii enclave was in a separate area. The buildings were metallic and geometrically shaped in a adaptation of Alteran architecture with the colour scheme changed from grey and copper to blue and gold. The Tok'ra delegation had been suitably impressed as they were brought to the central tower of the snowflake shaped citadel. Stopping before a large pair of deep blue doors inscribed with the declaration of principles in gold script Ren'al looked at her companions and entered the cathedral like room beyond.

As the Tok'ra and Republic delegations met the first sounds of battle rang out across Abydos

The room was obviously multi purpose, on a raised dais at the opposite end a table had been set before a set of large stained glass windows. Three figures, one of them Admiral Jha'dur, were seated with their backs to the large window which had a blue star field enclosed by two silver olive branches in the centre of a black and gold circle "It is the Great Seal of the Republic" Martouf spoke in low tones as they took their places at the table, he had noticed his companions curiosity about the symbol "The star field is the galaxy, olive branches are the symbol of peace and the black and gold circle is an adaptation of one of the martial societies symbols showing that while they wish for peace they will always be prepared for war" Ren'al approved

"Councillor Ren'al, welcome" Admiral Jha'dur began "This is General Corazon Santiago and this is Council Master Atton Rand"

Ren'al quickly took a measure of the other two and compared it to what Aldwin and Martouf had told her, both, like Jha'dur, appeared confident and were no doubt exceedingly competent in their chosen fields but it seemed they were new to the negotiating table "_Good_" she thought "_Their inexperience will weaken an otherwise overwhelming position of strength and give me a chance to do something other than accept or reject dictated terms_" "_I bring greetings from the Tok'ra High Council. My companions are Aldwin and Martouf_"

"If I might ask" Corazon "We are still unsure as to how to address you. Ren'al is referred to by her symbiotes name and yet Martouf and Aldwin are referred to by the names of their hosts"

"We are called by the name of the one most often in control" Martouf explained "Though our relationship is truly symbiotic it is the calmer or more confident of the two that usually assumes control unless the other asks. For instance Lantash will be the first to admit that he has the unfortunate habit of engaging his mouth at hyperspace while his brain lags behind at sublight, as such I am the one usually in control and so we are referred to as Martouf unless it is obvious Lantash is in control"

"A most sensible system" Jha'dur noted "Now that that is cleared up we may begin. I assume that the Tok'ra's main requirement of any form of an agreement is the authority to recruit hosts?"

"_That is correct_" Ren'al answered pleased by how quickly and easily what was usually a delicate subject had been broached

"A Tok'ra symbiote is genetically adapted to take a human host right?" Atton questioned

Ren'al had never expect that that particular requirement would limit their selection of hosts but unfortunately in this case it had "_Yes_" she answered "_Although Sebaceans, Dilgar, Minbari, Twileks, and a few others are close enough to accept a Tok'ra symbiote in emergencies it would not be advisable for long periods_"

"In return for allowing you to recruit hosts from amongst our human population" Jha'dur began "We wish for access to the Tok'ra's intelligence network"

"_All of it_?" Ren'al gasped disappointed as even the promise of hosts was not enough to allow such unprecedented access

"The vast majority" Corazon answered before hurriedly continuing "Our Intelligence Directorate has been infiltrating the Goa'uld for months but as they are restricted to humans they are privy only to mid and low level intelligence on the various Goa'uld plans. They do not wish to implant agents among the Lotar as there is a higher than average chance that they will be taken as hosts and our presence revealed. That leaves us with a serious lack of high level intelligence, the type only Goa'uld have access to"

Atton took over "We realise that hosts alone is not enough for you to give us the results of your entire intelligence network so in addition we propose that you receive unrestricted access to the Intelligence Directorates mid and low level information on the Goa'uld. This would allow you to recall all Tok'ra operatives currently monitoring those activities and use them to more thoroughly infiltrate the high levels of the Goa'uld hierarchy, in return we would then receive any information you uncover"

Aldwin questioned them on this matter further buying Ren'al time to think. Never in the history of the Tok'ra had anyone been allowed access to their intelligence network, but no one had ever been able to provide so much information in return either. "_We do have far to many operatives deployed monitoring relatively unimportant activities that must be monitored lest they become more serious_" she thought "_this would allow us to address our serious lack of resources by concentrating Tok'ra operatives in the high echelons of the Goa'uld whilst the Peacekeeper Disruptors monitor the medium and low level activities_" unspoken was the thought that such a course of events would also remove a great many Tok'ra from the firing line. In the three years since the Tau'ri had opened the stargate more Tok'ra had died than in the last hundred combined and it was only getting worse "_I fear_" Ren'al thought "_that if we do not find some way to keep our operatives out of harms way we will soon be wiped out_" while it stung to so cavalierly place the Peacekeeper Disruptors in positions where they would probably be killed they could be replaced, Tok'ra could not. Already their were whispers that the end was near, and they did not mean the end of the Goa'uld.

Thinking of how many operatives would be saved by removing them from the dangerous low level positions where they played the roles of cannon fodder all to well Ren'al gave her answer "_Such a proposal has never been made in the history of the Tok'ra_" she said "Well actually many have asked or demanded access to our intelligence network" Natalie commented "But no one has ever offered anything so valuable in return" aloud Ren'al continued "_Such a proposal will have to be ratified by the Tok'ra High Council but… provisionally… I agree to it"_

The three members of the executive committee inwardly breathed sighs of relief. The most important objective had been achieved and their crippling lack of high level intelligence addressed, these negotiations would not be considered a complete failure now no matter how the rest went

"_We have a piece of technology known as the Zatarc detector" _Ren'al continued "_It is similar in nature to the Aurora Chair, perhaps we could compare them and see if we can produce something that gives the best of both technologies" _

"That is acceptable" Atton responded "We have another proposal as well. One of our most important technologies is the Minbari stealth field, we wish to trade it for the cloaking technology of the Tel'tak cargo ships"

"_What benefit would the stealth field provide us if cloaking technology is more powerful?" _Ren'al questioned

"It is able to shield a much larger area than a cloaking field" Corazon replied with her Spanish accent "say a large underground base perhaps? It works by scattering incoming scanning beams, whilst the Goa'uld have been able to severely reduce it's effectiveness in space on the ground, with a stationary and already concealed base, it will be able to hide it from all but the most intensive search by multiple ships and even then they will only be able to locate the base to within 100km"

"_Anything that make our bases more difficult to detect is more than welcome"_ Ren'al thought to herself "_We would require a practical demonstration before handing over the cloaking technology" _she said _"but if it performs as you say then the Tok'ra agree to the exchange"_

Jha'dur looked at her colleges who both nodded "We have no objections to a providing a practical demonstration" she said "The final proposal is trading our military power for your technology"

"I bet there's been many occasions where with your intelligence one or two Ha'tak could have caused massive damage" Atton took over "but as you have no conventional military you couldn't take advantage of the weakness"

"Would our new alliance not dictate you strike those targets anyway?" Martouf questioned

"Some perhaps" Corazon answered "But we may feel that the benefits gained are not important enough to the Republic to justify deploying our warships, just as you will no doubt decide that some information is to sensitive to pass along to us"

"_They are not totally naive_" Ren'al thought "_it is good that they freely admit that even allies pursue there own agendas_" "_We understand this_" she replied "_What do you propose?_"

In return for technical assistance from the Tok'ra we will place a Strike Group at your disposal at all times. A strike group consists of 5 Firestorm class cruisers, our Ha'tak analogues, 10 Icestorm class cruisers and 40 Hurricane escort frigates and accompanying fighter and bomber squadrons"

Ren'al had to work to keep her mouth closed. Such a force could take on up to 8 Ha'tak's comfortably and while even the weakest of the System Lords had hundreds of Ha'tak's it was very rare when a planet had a space based defence at all let alone more than half a dozen motherships "_What is the price?" _she asked

"We wish for the Tok'ra to teach us the secrets to naquada power generation, Goa'uld shield generators, Tok'ra tunnel crystals, Goa'uld ship to ship weapons, ring transporters and crystal based computers" Corazon replied

Hoping that she read them correctly Ren'al began to haggle "_We will provide the secrets of naquada power generation" _She replied

"Naquada power generation, Goa'uld shield generators, Tok'ra tunnel crystals and Goa'uld ship to ship weapons"

"_Naquada power generation and Goa'uld shield generators_"

"Naquada power generation, Goa'uld shield generators and Tok'ra tunnel crystals"

While that would be acceptable to the Tok'ra Ren'al decided to see if she could get away with a little bit more "_I assume you wish to use the tunnel crystals for mining?"_ she queried receiving a nod in response "_In that case I propose that the Tok'ra provide the tunnel crystals and in return receive 15% of all naquada mined_" Ren'al held her breath, an experienced negotiator would see through her bluff and call her on it. It all rested on if her judgement of them was correct

"5%" Atton responded

"_12%"_

"6%"

"_10%_"

"8%"

"_Done_" Ren'al said pleased. Even 8% would enable the Tok'ra to bribe and trade for a lot of information and resources

"Do you have any other proposals?" Jha'dur asked, receiving a negative gesture from Ren'al she continued "Very well I believe that concludes our negotiations, we will expect the commander of your embassy by the end of the week so that they may chose the building"

"_I do not understand?" _Ren'al questioned

"As a formal ally you are required to maintain a permanent embassy on Kaitain" Corazon responded "besides where else would your scientists stay and people interested in becoming hosts enquire?"

While the scientists accommodation made sense to them the Tok'ra were puzzled by the hosts comment "We assumed that we would visit the terminally ill in the medical facilities" Martouf answered

"What of those who are perfectly healthy who wish to become hosts?" Jha'dur asked with a frown

"We have never been allowed to actively recruit hosts from amongst the non terminal population" Aldwin gasped

"Well when we said you could recruit hosts we meant from everyone" Atton responded "Though we don't know what the response rate is going to be"

The Tok'ra were left speechless by the knowledge that they could recruit anyone who wished to be a host not just the terminally ill as the Tollan and Tau'ri allowed, though in theory only in the latter's case, "_May we leave by stargate?"_ Ren'al managed to croak out "_We need to inform the High Council of the negotiations immediately"_

"Of course" Corazon responded "if you will come with me we will take my personal shuttle up to _Isenguard_ at once"

* * *

*****Yes I did get that from Admiral Helena Cain in the new BSG series

*That line is from the trailers for the film V for Vendetta which explores how Great Britain could, under the guise of combating terrorism, become a police state where the population are to terrified to stand up for themselves. Until the end of the film of course.

Reviewing take 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself.


	7. To Capture a Queen

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all of you who have reviewed nicely

Yes this is the season three episode where Amonet was killed by Teal'c

As I am writing this the British Army handed over its last base in Iraq. I give thanks to all of our troops who have done what was asked of them by less than reliable politicians with honour and integrity that make me proud to be British. I also remember the 179 who will never come home and dedicate this chapter to them as I can sit back and write this in safety as they gave their lives to keep us safe at home.

* * *

**Chapter 7 To Capture a Queen**

_**PKA Ascendant**_** – Abydos Orbit **

As the _Ascendant _and several smaller ships in the First Strike Group had not yet been upgraded with the new hyperdrives they had been forced to travel at the speed of the slowest vessel extending the travel time from Kaitain to over a week. Thankfully they had beaten Amonet to Abydos and the fleet was deployed so that no ship could leave the surface of the planet without encountering the Republic blockade, the _PKA Ascendant _remained in standard orbit waiting until the last second to land and deploy her troops so that Amonet would not get wind of the trap and escape.

In the Ground C&C of the Acclamator assault ship Grand Master Koren reviewed the battle plan once more with his former apprentices who, as they were all Astarii Masters and thus held the rank of Peacekeeper Commandant, would command several important parts of the plan. The holomap on the floor showed the surface of Abydos

"We know that Amonet will arrive via Stargate at this pyramid" James said pointing to the map "Brianna you will command V Corps which for this mission will be made up entirely of 4 Infantry Divisions so that you can all camouflage yourselves behind this rise here. Once Amonet has left the area you are to deploy your 800 men in any way you see fit to cut her and her 2,000 Jaffa off from the Stargate, you will of course have first priority on gunship and artillery support should Amonet discover the trap and make a concerted push back to the Stargate" The Astarii Guardian nodded and looked more closely at the map no doubt already deciding where to deploy her troops

James altered the map so that it moved away from the pyramid and a city came into focus "This is a native city" he explained "and it is most likely Amonet's reason for coming here along with the naquada mine nearby. Bao Dur will command IV Corps which will consist of 12 Infantry Divisions, 4 Armoured Brigades, 1 Artillery Battalion and 1 Gunship squadron and he will deploy them as he sees fit between Amonet and the city to protect the local population from attack. VI Corps under regular 501st officers will be the same size and will remain here to guard our staging area" Like Brianna before him Bao Dur began to study the map in more detail

"Once Amonet has arrived we expect her to set up camp in this area here" James continued shifting the map again "Close enough to enforce her rule on the city but not so close as to risk being killed in a rebellion. The remaining half of our ground forces will be split into I, II and III Corps and once she has begun to set up camp I Corps under my command will attack from the North. II and III Corps will be under 501st officers and will support me by attacking from the south east and south west"

Mira looked confused as she had been expecting to be given command of II or III Corps. James noticed the confusion and smiled "While I, II and III Corps are attacking Mira will, with a team of her choice, slip into the camp and extract Amonet taking her back to the _Ascendant _and keeping her captive behind the guns of VI Corps"

Mira looked positively gleeful at the chance to use her bounty hunter skills again. Nothing gave her a greater thrill than to completely bypass all the targets precautions and defences and prove herself superior to all of them. She regularly tested all the high level security on Kaitain for fun, a pastime that drove most security companies mad.

Just then James's PDA went off indicating an incoming message. The others watched as he read it then calmly activated the com system "Captain, Amonet will be arriving in approximately 6 hours, you many begin your landing" he ordered

As the others left to finalise their own battle plans and supervise their forces unloading James looked at the map once more "We must not get overconfident" he thought "Even now we could take on only one of the major System Lords and that would be a very close run thing relying on them bleeding themselves dry on our defences, two System Lords would finish us"

The plan was risky, the corps deployment left no reserves to reinforce Brianna's V Corps if something went wrong and the troops were unused to working together as this force had to be reorganised without their Sebacean comrades who could not stand the heat of Abydos

If Amonet escaped and reported them to the System Lords

Then death would come on swift wings to Kaitain

* * *

**Peacekeeper Staging Area – Abydos**

The young Abydoinan watched the people move around and unload things from their Sky Chariot. When he had seen the burning in the sky he had thought that Ra or another of his demon brothers were returning but these people did not seem like the Jaffa of Ra. Just then a large piece of equipment broke free of its net and fell as if to crush those beneath until a beautiful pale woman with white hair stretched out her hand and made it hover in mid air "It is evil magic!" The boy thought to himself in a panic "She is demon possessed!" he ran off in the direction of the stargate hoping that O'Neill would help them kill the demons once again

* * *

**Abydonian City – Abydos**

Believing that they would respond better to a human and male face James Koren had opted to speak to the people of the city himself. Normally the Republic would leave such a primitive civilisation alone but unfortunately the 4,800 men of Bao Dur's IV Corps now assembling on the ridge in front of their city were kind of hard to miss even without the Turtles and Raptors of the armoured brigades, Bright Skys and Javelins of the artillery battalion and the Eagles and Kestrels of the gunship squadron

As Bao Dur deployed his forces James Koren approached the city gates with two Astarii guardian knights as guards. They were all in their cream and metal tunics rather than their battle armour but James had borrowed Mira's and Bao Dur's modified shields for the two knights and was confident that they would withstand anything the city could throw at them long enough to retreat, they stood outside the city gates and waited

The gates opened and an old man in purple robes approached, James and his guards reached out with the force to absorb the language and allow them to communicate

"Are you evil demons?" the old man asked

James gave a small smile at the bluntness "No" he responded

"Then why have you brought an army to our city?" the old man questioned forcefully

"I would prefer to speak of such matter to the city Elder" James said cautiously

"I am Kasuf chief of the Elders" the old man replied "Now tell, why have you brought an army to our city?"

"The army is here to protect you" James replied "There is a woman coming here who is demon possessed and she brings many Jaffa. We wish to capture her but we also do not wish any harm to come to the city"

"That is a good reason" Kasuf said "We will not interfere if you stay outside" curiosity getting the better of him he asked "What is the name of the demon so that we may celebrate it's downfall?"

Seeing no harm in the question James answered "Amonet"

* * *

**Stargate Command – Earth**

"Incoming off world activation!" Sgt. Harriman said into the microphone as the stargate activated "No IDC sir" he reported as General Hammond came up behind him

"Then who is it?" Colonel O'Neil asked as he to wandered into the control room

"Were receiving a radio transmission sir" the sgt. Reported

"Lets hear it" General Hammond ordered

"_O'Neil!" the voice came over the radio "O'Neil please help! The demons have returned! Please let me come through! You have to help! The demons have returned!"_

"It's one of the kids from Abydos" O'Neil responded to Hammonds enquiring look "But I doubt we'll get anything out of him over the radio, he's to panicked. Permission to let him come through sir"

"Do it" General Hammond ordered

* * *

**Abydos – Brianna's V Corps **

Brianna checked once more to make sure that her Peacekeepers were well camouflaged, as a rule the Republic tended to avoid ground combat on desert planets as the Sebaceans had such trouble dealing with them and if combat was absolutely necessary they deployed Scarren shock troops who actually liked the heat. This meant that the 501st had only their red and black armour which, while they could get away with it on temperate, jungle, water and city planets, it was not a good idea to wear it whilst trying to stay undetected on a desert planet. An oversight Brianna was currently cursing.

The troops of V Corps were wearing the black suit part of their armour that contained the gel that crystallized upon the application of energy saving the solider and had covered it with any sand coloured clothes they had been able to get their hands on before they left Kaitain. Brianna had also managed to requisition every personal energy shield on Kaitain to combat the Jaffa Zat'nik'atel but since the Peacekeeper armour was so good they had fallen into disuse and she had only managed to get enough to equip 1 of her 4 Infantry Divisions. Whilst the standard production shields deflected energy weapons only and even then were pitiful when compared to her own shield it was better than nothing and Brianna had issued them to the division that was closest to the pyramid, the division she was leading in person since V corps didn't have a Command APC. Turning back to her binoculars she hunkered down into the sand as the first of Amonet's Jaffa arrived

* * *

**Stargate Command – Earth **

SG1 and General Hammond sat around the briefing room table as Daniel Jackson reported what he'd managed to get out of the Abydonian boy

"He claims that he saw the sky fire that Ra used to make when his sky chariot returned to Abydos" Daniel began

"Which is actually the extreme heat of a spacecraft entering the atmosphere right?" Sam asked not wishing to misunderstand Daniels translation

Daniel nodded before carrying on "When he searched he found a sky chariot that was as black as night and shaped like a dagger"

The entire table turned to look at Teal'c "I know of no Goa'uld craft that matches such a description" the Jaffa answered stoically

"So a Goa'uld has come up with a new ship design" Jack said dismissively, it was painfully obvious that he wanted to take all the SG teams through the gate right now and kill whomever had threatened the Abydonians

"Only rarely do the Goa'uld create new ship designs" Teal'c responded "But it has occurred at several times in the past"

"Perhaps this Goa'uld doesn't have the resources to build Ha'tak and is using what they can to expand their empire until they do have the resources to build them" Sam speculated

Teal'c nodded conceding that whilst designing new ships was radical it was not impossible for one of the more desperate Goa'uld to be doing as Major Carter suggested

"Anyway" Daniel continued "He saw a couple of hundred men dressed in sand coloured rags that obscured their faces unloading cargo, this fits what we know of the Goa'uld using slave labour for mundane tasks as the Jaffa serve a strictly military role, but when one of the cargo crates threatened to crush the workers the leader, a beautiful woman dressed in armour of dazzling white stretched out her hand and made it hover in midair"

"Dam snakehead" Jack spat "General request permission to take teams through the stargate and deal with this Goa'uld"

"If this Goa'uld has only 200 slaves at her disposal then her Jaffa are likely to be similar in number" Teal'c added

"Take the new mobile guns" General Hammond ordered "and be ready to ship out in 2 hours"

* * *

**Abydos – Brianna's V Corps **

Amonet had managed to salvage a respectable amount of Jaffa and resources from the fall of Apophis and it had taken her most of the day to transport them by stargate. She had finally disappeared over the horizon several hours ago leaving a dozen or so Jaffa to secure the gate.

Satisfied that the 2,000 Jaffa Amonet had brought with her were setting up camp several miles away Brianna and four handpicked troops crept towards the pyramid as the infantry divisions deployed into their pre arranged areas. The Jaffa left behind would soon be dealt with and V Corps would prevent Amonet's escape

* * *

**Abydos – Koren's I Corps**

The Peacekeepers Command APC was adapted from the Galactic Empires Tracked Mobile Base. Four tracks, two on each side, supported the large jet black rectangle with flat corners where pulse cannons were situated. Three times the length of a Turtle, twice as wide and 1/2 again high the Command APC was split into three, in the front third above the tracks was the cockpit with the two drivers and two forward gunners, In the rear third above the rear tracks was the power plant, shield generator: the same as on fighters and bombers, and the two rear gunners. The centre third, between the tracks was the nerve centre. In the centre were numerous holocoms and a holotank similar to that in the C&C of a warship that allowed the commandant to see the overall situation of his entire corps and issue orders appropriately. It was from here that James Koren gave the order for I Corps to advance

Amonet's Jaffa had no idea what hit them as Raptors rumbled over the dunes and sped towards their positions firing their Subach turrets, recovering quickly Jaffa dived for cover as the staff cannons they had set up flared to life firing at the quickly manuvering Raptors. Despite the drivers and gunners best efforts several Raptors took hits but shrugged them off with damage to the armour, two were hit in the tracks allowing the staff cannons to fire shot after shot into them until they blew sky high. The Jaffa's morale lifted, until they saw that the Turtles had advanced as well had managed to unload their troops unmolested whilst the staff cannons were concentrating on the Raptors. With enemy troops right on top of them the Jaffa commander called for reinforcements

* * *

**Amonet's Camp **

Mira crept silently towards the grand tent that contained the Goa'uld Amonet. She had passed the defensive perimeter of the Jaffa with no trouble using her stealth field generator and had waited for I corps attack to divert the Jaffa's attention. Now they had only eight Jaffa and the First Prime remained to guard Amonet but any attempt she made would be doomed to failure due to the large number of Jaffa still rushing around the tent city that formed Amonet's camp.

Mira smiled as panicked shouts and explosions came from the south east and south west of the camp. It appeared that II and III Corps had begun their assault

* * *

**Abydos Stargate **

Colonel Jack O'Neill looked in satisfaction at the 12 dead Jaffa that lay strewn around the gate room. It appeared that he was correct in assuming that the woman the marines had taken to referring to as the white witch was a Goa'uld. Hand signals from the observers deeper in the pyramid caused the Colonel to order the gate closed and take up position with the 20 or so marines that had managed to come through waiting to see what his spotters had discovered

"Sweet" he thought as he spotted Brianna and her for guards advancing through the pyramid "That's the White Witch herself. Well my little snakehead your about to have a really bad day"

O'Neill signalled to his team to take them out

Brianna was slipping quietly towards the stargate hoping to take the Jaffa by surprise. Her danger sense was on overdrive but that was to be expected with 12 Jaffa in here somewhere. Suddenly several men appeared from behind cover and unleashed a hail of projectiles at her. Although the personal shield Bao Dur had created for her held against the attack the momentum of the bullets threw Brianna back slamming her head into one of the pillars. Before she could call on the force to assist her everything went black.

Two of the peacekeeper troopers were hit with bullets aimed at Brianna. Though their armour saved them they were out of the fight, the remaining two found cover and began to return fire with their pulse rifles

Until the spotters that had alerted O'Neill to Brianna's approach snuck up behind them and zatted them both in the back, thankfully the shields absorbed the first shot so the second only stunned them much to the marines chagrin

* * *

**Amonet's Camp**

With the Jaffa now completely occupied Mira turned off her stealth field generator and reached deep into the force. First she used the camouflage technique to pull the shadows around her making sure that as long as she did nothing to attract attention the Jaffa's eyes would slide off her, next she directed the force towards her eyes using force sight to stare at Amonet's tent. Eight Jaffa and the First Prime remained outside and one life sign was inside the tent with her opposition confirmed Mira swung into action

Four Jaffa fell with small steel arrows protruding from their foreheads courtesy of Mira's wrist launcher, the other four began to move but were stoon felled by shots from the two snipers that were Mira's team. Mira's lightstaff quickly snapped into life and she cut off the still stunned First Primes head

Swift, silent, deadly

Mira wasn't the best for nothing, as she entered the tent Amonet still had no idea that her guards had been dispatched and so had made no attempt to flee or call for assistance. Mira entered to find a woman with curly dark hair looking at her, before she could react the woman's eyes flashed and she raised her hand using a gauntlet to send Mira flying across the tent. Shaking her head Mira quickly realised that the Goa'uld was walking towards her to finish her off and sent a force whirlwind to send her spinning into the air, climbing to her feet she used the force to bind Amonet before sending both symbiote and host to sleep with a mental suggestion, cloaking the shadows around her and her captive Mira and her team made their escape due East into the empty desert. An Eagle was waiting for them

* * *

**Abyos – Stargate Pyramid**

Feeling confident now that they had the Goa'uld secured O'Neill, Teal'c and the marines pushed further into the pyramid as the SGC sent more troops through. They exited into the sunlight expecting to find a few dozen Jaffa disorganised and confused at the capture of their god

They found 800 very pissed off Peacekeepers

"We must retreat O'Neill!" Teal'c yelled from the other side of the doorway as red pulse bolts continued to rain through it

"Colonel there has to be nearly a thousand Jaffa out their we must fall back!" the new marine Major agreed when O'Neill hesitated

Though he hated to leave Abydos to its fate O'Neill had to conclude that they were right, if it were him he'd stay and go down fighting but he couldn't ask the men and women of the SGC who had no ties to this place to die here with no hope of victory

"Fall back to the stargate" he called out through gritted teeth, inwardly grateful that Daniel hadn't left the SGC yet "They win this round" "At least we got that snakehead" he thought "Maybe we can use her as leverage to get them off Abydos, no matter what we'll be back"

* * *

**Abydos – Bao Dur's IV Corps **

Bao Dur studied the display in his Command APC. I, II and III Corps had nearly met up and were moments away from crushing all resistance in what was left of Amonet's camp and Mira's Eagle had just landed at _Ascendant_, the Goa'uld they had gone to all this effort to capture was now safely secured behind the guns of VI Corps. He frowned as he noticed that a couple of hundred Jaffa had fled the camp and were heading due west, straight towards the city "They most likely intend to use the city walls as a defence" Bao Dur concluded "Well I will make sure that they never get the chance" he focused on the projected path of the Jaffa and designated an area before activating the com link. "All Bright Sky artillery pieces, open fire"

The Peacekeepers used two distinct types of artillery. The first was, for the Kailua galaxy, a traditional direct fire energy weapon piece. Essentially a single barrelled star ship grade HL7 turbolaser the Javelin was deadly to anything up to and including an Imperial AT AT. The second was a unit known as Bright Sky. It was essentially a Command APC chassis that mounted a very large gun that's main body ran the length of the unit. The barrel continued for several meters beyond the cockpit. The bright sky artillery piece used plasma collected from a reactor that took up a lot of the internal space. Held within a containment field it was expelled by explosive in the same manner as a physical artillery shell of pre space flight cultures, the bright blue trail that the shot left behind gave its name to the artillery piece

The sky lit up with blue glows as IV Corps artillery opened fire. Rocking back on their tracks in time with the massive boom of the guns the Bright Sky artillery pieces kept up their barrage for several minuets, their were no survivors, at the same time the lead units of the three attacking corps met up

The battle was over

The Republic had won

* * *

**Abydos – Koren's I Corps**

Grand Master James Koren was about to contact Kaitain and request that they ask the Tok'ra to come to Abydos and extract Amonet from Kasuf's daughter as he had promised when a chime told him of an incoming holotransmission

Curious as to what it could be he accepted the call from Major George of the Brianna's V Corps. As the visage of the Major filled the holocom James got an ominous sense of foreboding

"Sir we have a situation here" The Major said and proceeded to report what little he knew of what occurred inside the pyramid

James Koren realised he had lost his sister to Earth. "They had better be prepared to negotiate her release" he thought "and she better have been treated well, otherwise the United States will get a demonstration of the power of orbital bombardment, and their military bases will be the targets"

Sometimes good command decisions get compromised by bad emotional responses. It was surprising how many Peacekeepers did not consider now to be one of those times

* * *

**Tok'ra Council Chambers, Vorash – One Day Later**

The Tok'ra High Council had been in closed section ever since Ren'al's return. Several had been sceptical about the GRP's claims but the recording of the Supergate and the extensive defences and cities of Kaitain soon silenced those voices, after that they had debated the merits of the proposals the Republic had tabled but in the end they agreed to uphold Ren'al's decisions as they had so much to gain.

"_Now we must decide who will command the embassy and how large it should be_" Per'sus said

"_I suggest base commander Malek_" Delek said "_He is and excellent base commander and has the disposition of a diplomat should the need arise, he is also ill suited to infiltration so his redeployment will not adversely affect our spying activities"_

"_I agree"_ Selmak spoke up_ "Malek has commanding a base and the accompanying responsibilities down to an art form he is an excellent choice. _

"_I disagree" _Garshaw replied_ "Malek has little experience in diplomacy despite his calm disposition" _

"_A fair point and one that I agree with_" Ren'al responded_ "But the embassy commander and Tok'ra representative to the Republic need not be the same person"_

"_What are you suggesting Ren'al?" _Per'sus questioned

"_In terms of embassy commander I agree with Delek and Selmak, that there is none better suited than Malek" _Ren'al explained_ "But I also agree with Garshaw, that Malek does not have the experience to serve as our representative. The obvious solution to this is to appoint Malek as embassy commander but to appoint another as our representative"_

"_Who would you suggest?" _Thron asked

"_Martouf_" Ren'al replied after a moments hesitation_ "He as experience in representing us to other civilizations and has spent over two months on Kaitain already giving him insight into the GRP that all of us lack"_

"_He is also superior to Malek removing any conflict over whether the embassy commander or representative should be superior" _Delek observed thoughtfully

"_Martouf and Lantash are also one of our best intelligence operatives" _Thron cautioned

"_He could still be so if the mission was grave enough to warrant recalling him for a short period of time" _Selmak added_ "But it would prevent him from undertaking longer missions"_

"_We are going to have significantly more resources to work with due to our treaty with the Republic" _Ren'al countered_ "His loss is not as devastating as it could be" _

"_Shall we put Ren'al's proposal to a vote?" _Per'sus asked

The council members voted to approve both Martouf as Representative and Malek as embassy commander

"_It is decided then" Per'sus said "However it does leave us with the problem of who will command Malek's base" _

"_Why should we keep the base?"_ Thron questioned. At any one time their was one large base serving most of the needs of the Tok'ra required and holding the vast majority of their population, currently this was the base on Vorash, but at the same time there were also several other bases, the number varied between 2 and 6, that were much smaller but provided support for the operatives in Goa'uld territory and gave a back up in the case of the Armageddon style disaster of the main base being destroyed.

"_What do you mean?"_ Garshaw asked

"_The recordings show that Kaitain is the most fortified place in the galaxy"_ Thron elaborated "_Where better to store our most sensitive research and operatives in need of a rest after many years of spying?" _

The council was struck dumb at such a proposal from its most conservative and isolationist member

"_There is nowhere safer provided the Republic does not betray us_" Selmak cautioned mindful of Jacob's memories of fair weather allies

"_If we make sure that the base is on the ground then we can grow tunnels and make an escape plan for such an event"_ Delek responded

"_Well we are going to have to send Anise as she is our premier scientist and the only one with the knowledge of all subjects required"_ Ren'al said thoughtfully "_With Malek and Martouf as well a handful of researchers under Anise they should be able to discern the Republics character and give a recommendation on upgrading the embassy to a full base"_

"_That is decided then" Per'sus concluded "As our negotiations with the Republic are now concluded we can inform the Tau'ri of their existence, I suggest we send Martouf to tell them while we summon Malek and Anise to this base and tell them of our decision then"_ Per'sus said _"I trust we now have a stargate address for Kaitain and they won't have to traipse around the galaxy as a traders?"_

The entire council got a much needed laugh trying to imagine Malek and Anise as a traders

* * *

**EARTH AND THE GRP WILL BE ALLIES **right after they solve this little disagreement. I just thought that it would be fun to have a first contact where it wasn't SG1 getting captured :P

Reviewing take 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself.


	8. And to Rescue a Friend

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Review Responses **

My thanks to all who have reviewed nicely.

Though my chapters are admititly short I work to a 4,000 word minimum and you actually get more story overall when you compare most authors single long chapter to my several in the same time period. Except for the author of Rising Star, I have no idea how he manages it.

* * *

**PKA **_**Ascendant – **_**Abydos**

Grand Master Koren took stock of the forces available to him. He had 20,000 troops not counting armour, artillery and gunships, the ships of the First Strike Group and the _Ascendant _and now he had to decide how to use them to extract Commandant Brianna and her four troopers in the event that the Tau'ri decided not to release her. He looked down at the pad again

**First Strike Group**

Firestorm Cruiser (Command): 1

Firestorm Cruisers: 4

Icestorm Cruisers: 10

Hurricane Frigates: 40

The only ships in the group capable of transporting troops were the Firestorms, all ships had their space marine compliment but deploying them on the ground was a sign of desperation. Sighing James tapped out orders into the holotank, their space marines would be brought down to the surface and additional troops would replace them, then with 4 Hurricane Frigates escorting each one _Starlight, Valiant, Valkyire, Furies _and_ Knight Hammer_ were to be sent to the ort cloud on the edge of the Tau'ri solar system await further instructions "Really hope I don't need to use them" James thought to himself as the Firestorm cruisers acknowledged their orders

* * *

**Stargate Command – Earth**

SG1, General Hammond, Dr Felger and Dr Janet Frasier sat around the briefing room desk

"What happened" General Hammond asked

"Well we got through the gate alright" O'Neil responded "and we quickly took out the dozen Jaffa that had been left to guard it. I deployed spotters to alert me to enemy movements whilst the rest of our forces came through. They alerted me to the approach of the White Witch and we took her out when our bullets smashing against her shield threw her into a pillar and knocked her unconscious, her guards were quickly dispatched and we secured the pyramid. However when we tried to advance outside we came under fire from enemy troops that numbered in the high hundreds. With victory against such a number impossible I ordered a general retreat brining our captives with us"

"Doctor what is the condition of our captives?" General Hammond asked

"Well sir none of them seem the worse for wear" the diminutive Dr answered "But I only performed a cursory examination after the airmen stripped them completely and put them in BDUs. They all seem in perfect health except for the fact that the guards are human not Jaffa and the woman had no entry marks, however I should point out that a Goa'uld can enter through the mouth leaving no visible entry scar"

"The Goa'uld have also been known to use humans as warriors" Teal'c added "Though it is a tactic of extreme desperation"

"General" Daniel spoke up before O'Neill had the chance to "I don't think they are Goa'uld"

"Oh for crying out loud Daniel!" O'Neill exclaimed

"I have to agree sir" Major Carter put in

"And how did you reach that conclusion?" General Hammond questioned warily

* * *

**SGC Brig – ****1 hour previously **

Major Carter and Daniel Jackson looked at the four humans in the cell who stared straight back at them. Daniel and Sam were hoping to discover their reason for being on Abydos before the briefing so that they could decide what to do next

"You know the god you serve is a false one, a parasite that inhabits a human body" Daniel said looking for a reaction

The four Peacekeepers looked at each other in confusion wondering what the hell their captor was talking about

"The magic they claim to posses is nothing more than technology, machines that any one of you can use with training" Sam said after a pause

The Peacekeepers grinned at each other "It is not technology that gives Master Brianna her power, it is the force" their leader replied

"We have seen it on other planets" Daniel said earnestly "They use technology to give the illusion of the force and use it to enslave you"

The Peacekeepers burst out laughing

Put off by that reaction Sam tried a different tactic "Don't you want to be free? We can give you that. You'll never be a slave again if you help us"

At the mention of slavery the prisoners immediately sobered, their leader stepped forward, "Master Brianna and the others would never do as you describe" he hissed "The Astarii despise slavery in all its forms"

"And yet she makes you call her master" Daniel shot back

"Master is her rank, not her nature" the leader replied forcefully "Commandant Brianna is our commanding officer and we will say no more until we have spoken to her"

The troopers turned their backs on the two stunned SGC members and refused to answer any more enquires. The meaning could not be clearer

The Peacekeepers were waiting for their Commandant

* * *

**SGC- Briefing Room **

The table sat stunned at Daniels revelation

"They actually said that she was their commanding officer?" General Hammond asked

"Yes along with her rank of Commandant which I assume is the closest translation" Daniel responded

"As you can imagine we were shocked after such a revelation" Sam took over "So I asked Dr Felger about their technology"

The group turned to the excitable scientist who had a crush on Major Carter and to whom captured Goa'uld tech was usually sent if it didn't warrant Major Carters attention

"Yes well um" Dr Felger stuttered "The technology is vastly different to the standard Goa'uld tech that we have encountered. I've only had a chance to quickly glance at it but their weapons seem to use an organic liquid compound as a power source and are designed for swift magazine changes like our own. Also they are designed as rifles and pistols that wouldn't look to out of place in any country in the world. There are of course several other differences that I noted but but I haven't had time you see, I mean"

"Thank you Dr" General Hammond silenced the scientist who was beginning to babble franticly "Major is their any way that a Goa'uld could have come up with this technology?"

"No sir" Sam responded instantly "This is just to radical a departure from their standard tech base for it to be Goa'uld, I also checked the leader whilst she was still unconscious, I didn't sense a presence"

"Teal'c" O'Neill questioned

"I to did not sense the presence of a Goa'uld when we captured her" the Jaffa replied "I assumed it was because I was focusing on looking for more guards and because the prisoner was unconscious"

"So the bottom line is we may have just captured a high ranking officer of a space faring civilisation we know nothing about" General Hammond stated

"Its beginning to look that way sir" Major Carter responded

"General perhaps we should put the prisoner through an MRI scanner just to be sure?" Colonel O'Neill asked

General Hammond nodded hoping that the scanner would show the presence of a Goa'uld. Otherwise his facility had just declared war on a foreign power. A foreign star faring power that was not covered by the protected planets treaty with the Asgard

* * *

**SGC – Brig **

Jack O'Neill did not believe the others and was sure that the MRI would show their prisoner to be a snakehead. A very inventive snakehead granted but a snakehead none the less and as such he didn't intend to be to gentle when sedating her hence his three marine guards, one of whom was armed with a tranquiliser gun and their latest attempt at a Goa'uld tranquiliser

"Colonel I still don't think that this is necessary" Dr Frasier objected as they entered the brig to come face to face with the white haired woman who still managed to look elegant in oversized BDUs

"Well I do" Colonel O'Neill responded "Sgt"

The marine sergeant took aim with the tranquilizer gun and that was when everything went wrong for the SGC

Brianna brought up her hands and the dart stopped in mid air. Disbelieving as they had stripped her of all technology the marines were caught completely by surprise when it flipped end over end and shot back to slam into the sgts arm. As he collapsed to the floor the other two marines opened fire but their bullets slowed and stopped before Brianna's outstretched hands and as they stopped to reload the bullets were sent back on slightly altered trajectories blasting an outline of the two marines into the concrete walls before Brianna summoned their weapons and stopped the knife that O'Neill had thrown at her. She sent the knife back at O'Neill watching him freeze as it stopped a mere centimetre before his eye and then cast a stasis field over the SGC personnel so that they were still aware but were unable to move

Gesturing to the door of her cell the SGC members were forced to watch as the metal deformed before flying off its hinges and across the room letting their prisoner step out of the cell, around them and out of sight. She returned five minuets later with the four other prisoners and re entered the cell with them before gesturing to the deformed door and lifting it back into place before melding it back into the correct shape

As she lifted the stasis field Brianna made sure that the knife hovering in front of Colonel O'Neill's face fell directly downwards to go right through his foot. He had tried to kill her after all

* * *

**SGC – Briefing room**

"And that was why we couldn't get her in the scanner General" Colonel O'Neill finished with his crutches propped up beside him

"We will discuss your lack of diplomatic skills at a later date Colonel" General Hammond stated wearily

"It was clear that she was sending us a message" Daniel said "That she can leave at any time she wants to and we can't stop her"

"Then why didn't she?" Major Carter asked

"It is most likely she cannot perform such feats on more than a handful of warriors" Teal'c observed "Attempting to escape the facility with no knowledge of its layout would have left her vulnerable to being trapped and overwhelmed with numbers"

"I'm more concerned with what technology she's using" Major Carter said "We stripped her of everything and we know there is nothing in the walls so how is she doing it?"

"Any theories Major?" General Hammond queried

"Maybe its cybernetics, technology implanted into her body"

"Yes, but Sam I didn't notice any surgical scars or deformation of the arms that inserting that sort of technology would cause" Janet Frasier responded

"Maybe its not technology" Daniel spoke up

"Daniel it has to be technology" Major Carter said dismissively

"Why?" Daniel asked "We've seen the Nox do things far more impressive with no technology just the power of their minds"

Frowning Major Carter was about to respond when the sirens went off and red lights came on

"_Unscheduled off world activation!" _came over the PA as the group went downstairs into the control room

"It's the Tok'ra IDC sir" Sgt Harriman reported

"Open the Iris" General Hammond ordered ignoring the DOH! From Colonel O'Neill

* * *

**Tau'ri Solar System – Ort Cloud**

Commandant Pine watched as his four fellow Firestorms and their escorts exited hyperspace. He knew Master Brianna only by reputation but respected her a great deal "Still" he thought I hope whomever has captured her is sensible enough to release her before any lives are lost" His hopes were dashed as a message came in from Abydos. It had been a full day and still the 15,000 troops remaining behind had reported no activity from the stargate. Now the Grand Master was going to force the issue

_Furies _and _Valiant _were to stay here with _Starlight _but _Valkyrie _and _Knight Hammer_ were to proceed deeper into the system to orbit the planet Neptune. "Hopefully that will convince them to back down" Chris thought to himself "Otherwise this is going to get very messy"

* * *

**SGC – Briefing Room **

Lantash sat in the back of Martouf's mind pondering recent events. It had become clear to him that his host desired to spend more time with Grand Master Koren if the joy that flooded through him at the news of his new assignment was any indication. Yet at the same time there were still the very strong feelings of attraction for Samantha Carter. Lantash realised that Samantha knew little of Jolinar as she carried her for such a short time but she also looked and acted very similar to Rosha. Was Martouf attracted to Samantha Carter? Or was he attracted to the ghosts of Jolianar and Rosha?

O'Neill's yell of "WHAT??!!" startled Lantash and he began to pay attention to what his host was saying

"I said that the Tok'ra have made a very profitable alliance with the civilisation that attacked Antak. The Galactic Republic of Planets" Martouf repeated

Lantash gave his host a metaphorical grin. Almost everyone, Sam included, would have assumed that Martouf repeated himself as he thought that O'Neill's response was actually a question. Only Lantash knew that Martouf knew perfectly well what O'Neill meant and had repeated himself just to annoy the Colonel

"Why didn't you tell us of this immediately?!" Colonel O'Neill demanded

"The Tok'ra High Council does not feel the need to inform the Tau'ri of every race that they encounter" Martouf responded in his cultured tones "The High Council decided to inform you of their existence after our own negotiations with them were concluded"

"You are supposed to tell us these things" O'Neill reiterated clearly not willing to give up

"The Tau'ri are supposed to provide hosts" Martouf shot back a hint of steel entering his voice "And yet you have not done so in over a year, many symbiotes have had to enter stasis jars and several have died."

Everyone looked down at the table at that statement. It was the first time that a Tok'ra had mentioned the distinctly one sided nature of their alliance

"_Thank you my love" _Lantash thought to Martouf

"You don't need to thank me Lantash" Martouf thought back "They do not understand that I love you and could not imagine life without you. I want you to live on when my time is done and if that means being as uncouth as to point out their failings then that is what I shall do"

"_That is something the Republic understands" _Lantash replied noting the flash of blue eyes that the word 'Republic' caused Martouf to remember

"Yes. Even those who decide that my lifestyle choice is not for them support my right to chose it and do not try turn me against you or look at both of us in disgust" Martouf replied looking at O'Neill as he thought that "That is something that has never happened before"

"_It has given you the confidence to speak out when challenged by the more bigoted members of the SGC" _Lantash realised

"I am sorry it took so long" Martouf responded as feelings of shame washed over him

"_Do not be" _Lantash replied countering Martouf's feelings with his own affection and love for his host_ "That you do so is more than enough"_

"So what are you giving them?" It seems that even that rebuke had not silenced the Colonel

"The negotiations of the Tok'ra and the Republic are not up for Tau'ri approval" Martouf responded "Though we will arrange a meeting if you wish" he said whilst looking at General Hammond

"We would appreciate that" General Hammond said

Daniel had been thinking ever since Martouf had given the news of the Tok'ra's new alliance trying to pin down exactly what was giving him such an uneasy feeling. Finally he remembered "Martouf does the Republic have any warships that could be described as black as night and shaped like a dagger?" he said suddenly

"I want you to respond to this" Martouf thought

"_Why? Such a course of action will only rile Colonel O'Neill"_

"Because now that the Republic has agreed to provide hosts we no longer need to tolerate the Tau'ri's petty prejudices for fear that they will provide no more hosts. You are my symbiote, my other half and I will no longer tolerate them forcing you into hiding"

"_There is one that matches the description_" Lantash responded to Daniels question_ "All Peacekeeper, that is the name of their military, warships are black due to their armour and the fact that the Peacekeeper colours are black and red. The Acclamator class assault ship is dagger shaped. It is a large transport that carries the troops and equipment of the Grand Army of the Republic and the only Peacekeeper warship that can operate in atmosphere and land"_

"Well then it seems like your new allies are already invading innocent worlds" O'Neill said with a nasty smile on his face

"_They would not do such a thing" _Lantash responded with certainty having got to know many high ranking people during his time on Kaitain

"A warship matching that description landed troops that have occupied Abydos" Major Carter responded quietly

"_Then the Goa'uld have done something on Abydos to attract the Republics attention__. Have you considered simply asking them what it is?"_

O'Neill was about to respond scathingly before General Hammond, seeing a way out of the corner that Brianna's capture had landed him, cut him off "Lantash we managed to capture several members of the attacking forces but they have not told us what they were doing there. Perhaps you would have more luck?"

Lantash was about to answer when the phone rang and General Hammond stepped into his office to answer it. When he emerged he had a very grim look on his face, Lantash does the description 'a jet black 1.2km long elongated hexagon with a large spinal mounted weapon emitter in the bow' mean anything to you?"

"_Yes, you are describing a Firestorm class heavy cruiser, the most powerful warship the Republic fields. Where did you obtain such a description?"_

"From NASA" General Hammond responded his face darkening "Two just entered orbit of Neptune"

* * *

**SGC – Brig **

Martouf entered the bright with SG1 and General Hammond and promptly paled until he resembled a ghost

"_Of all the officers to capture they had to capture one of the 4 that the Grand Master considers family" _Lantash moaned to Martouf_ "He will stop at nothing to retrieve her including bombarding every military installation on the planet to dust and occupying the cities" _

"Astarii Master Brianna" Martouf said bowing slightly to her. He had met Brianna once or twice as she was head of the guard detail Grand Master Koren had ordered accompany him at all times

"Martouf and Lantash" Brianna said bowing back "I hope the Tok'ra have not been complicit in my capture"

"We have not" Martouf responded "I was sent to Earth on other business and they wished me to help them decide if you were a Goa'uld"

"Yes the last time they tried that was not pleasant. For them" Brianna responded a smile gracing her lips "What do I need to do to alleviate their suspicions and be released"

"We would have released you as soon as we realised you were not Goa'uld" General Hammond intervened trying to do some damage control "Except that you attacked a planet that has been very helpful to us and that we felt an obligation to defend"

"How did you know of our arrival?" Brianna questioned harshly suspecting a traitor had leaked their movements

"One of the natives we have had contact with saw your forces landing and contacted us for help" Daniel responded diplomatically

"Ah yes that would be before we contacted Kasuf" Brianna mused "So they would not have known that our intentions were not hostile to them"

"You spoke to Kasuf" Daniel said trusting his father in laws judgement

"Yes" Brianna responded "He promised not to intervene provided we did not threaten the city"

"In that case you will be released immediately with our sincere apologies. I wonder if it would be possible to meet with your leaders to apologise to them as well about this misunderstanding" General Hammond said hoping to salvage the situation. If the warships around Neptune were any indication then even scraps of tech from this civilisation could go a long way towards getting senator Kinsey and the NID off his back

"If the Tok'ra can confirm that this is not your usual method of greeting guests that will be possible" Brianna said looking at Martouf

"The Tau'ri can be judgemental and trigger happy" Martouf responded "But they are also honourable, fierce opponents of the Goa'uld and they offer help to any that are in need without asking for anything in return"

"In that case a meeting will be possible" Brianna concluded "But only a meeting, what effect your latest actions will have on are trading policies are as yet unknown"

"Which makes it even more important to grovel and apologise" General Hammond thought "A little damaged pride now could result in many technologies that we can use to defend ourselves from the next attack" "If you will come with me we will return your equipment to you and then show you to the stargate" he said aloud

"Just a minuet" Colonel O'Neill interrupted placing one of his crutches across Brianna's path "You never did say what you were on Abydos for"

"A Goa'uld Queen that had recently lost all of her territory and power retreated there to regroup" Brianna said "We went their with 20,000 troops to overwhelm her 2,000 so as to liberate the Abydonians and capture a Queen for study"

Whilst the rest were in shock over how many troops had been deployed Daniel had figured out who was the only Goa'uld important enough to have a Queen who had fallen from power recently "The Goa'uld" he said hesitantly not wishing to get his hopes up "Was her name Amonet?"

Everyone's heads snapped to face Daniel at that statement

"Yes I believe it was" Brianna replied

* * *

Reviewing take 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself.


	9. A Brothers Love

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Review Responses **

My thanks to all who have reviewed nicely.

In response to the charge that the GRP is to perfect

1.) James Koren was willing to let his feelings for his (as good as) sister Brianna compromise his command decisions and no one was willing to stand up to him

2.) At home the GRP is outnumbered and outgunned by the Alliance and is in danger of fighting a loosing war

3.) In the Milky way they have not yet gone up against any serious opposition but it is guaranteed that when they do they won't win all of the battles and will get their asses handed to them several times

In response to Earth and SG1 bashing the attitude of the SGC to other cultures is absolutely appalling in cannon if O'Neill doesn't like something then my god it must be as evil as the Goa'uld. I'm just giving them a little attitude adjustment before I increase their power and their power will be increased to a more believable level if they wish to combat the Goa'uld. How will I do it? Wait and see

* * *

**Chapter 9: A Brothers Love**

**Stargate Command – Earth**

General Hammond and SG1 minus Colonel O'Neill sat around the briefing room desk looking out over the gate room. It had been several days since Astarii Master Guardian Brianna had been sent back to Abydos and the audience that the SGC had been granted on Kaitain to explain their actions was approaching fast. Now they were discussing how best to approach the issue at hand, how to apologise sincerely enough to get the Republic to trade with them without appearing so weak as to not be of any consequence.

"And we have to get it right" General Hammond thought to himself "especially given how spooked the Joint Chiefs and the President are at the moment given the Republic flyby"

After Master Brianna had been returned to Abydos the two Firestorm cruisers in orbit of Neptune had cruised further into the system, orbited Mars for a few hours and then left. Shortly after three more were detected leaving orbit of Venus and exiting the system and the realisation that what had been thought to be one of the largest threats to Earth to date had been merely a distraction whilst a larger main force snuck up from behind had had the Pentagon in a mad panic, especially since 90% of their detecting equipment was pointed outwards. No one had considered that an attacking force might have come from the direction of Venus instead of Mars which was rather stupid given how space was both large and three dimensional, attacking forces didn't even have to use the plane of the ecliptic that all the planets were on but somehow this fact had completely missed Pentagon strategists who were now running around like headless chickens screaming "What do we do!? What do we do!?"

Daniel Jackson had been working non stop with the information that they had received from the Tok'ra trying the find the best way to accomplish Earths goals. He had a vested interest as the Abydos gate was still under Republic control while they negotiated with Kasuf for the right to run their own naquada mine on the site of Ra's old one and they would not allow any members of the SGC through. Daniel hoped to appeal to higher authorities on Kaitain so that he could see Sha're now that Amonet had finally been removed

"Well" General Hammond said beginning the briefing "The first thing that you should be aware of is that I will be leading this mission instead of Colonel O'Neill"

The others looked surprised by the news as they had been assuming that O'Neill was simply late for the briefing, again.

"But sir" Major Carter began

"The actions of this facility are my responsibility Major" General Hammond responded "I do not intend to hide from the consequences" "That and Jacks attitude will probably make things worse" he thought privately

"Yes sir" Major Carter replied subdued

"This actually works to our advantage" Daniel Jackson spoke up "The Republic is very much an honour based society as that was the structure of the Minbari, Dilgar and Sebacean societies when they helped formed it. Taking responsibility for your mistakes is ranked very highly as are depts of honour"

"Well how does that help us?" General Hammond asked

"We went to the aid of the Abydonians because we believed that they were under attack" Daniel explained "They helped to free our first team when they were captured by Ra and throw Ra of the planet and kill him. If we explain we went to aid them to repay the dept of honour that those actions created then that should play very well amongst the officer corps"

"We then simply state that we were overzealous in discharging that duty and make it known that such a mistake will not happen again" Teal'c concluded

"Write it as quickly as possible" General Hammond ordered approving the plan

* * *

**Chancellors Residence – Polaris**

Sitting in the private study of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic four friends were sprawled out over the sofas scheming and plotting how to help the absent fifth. Padme, Anakin, Dukhat and Sha'dur were among the few who James Koren counted as friends not just acquaintances and they were currently meeting to discuss how they were going to deal with the latest developments in the next security council meeting.

"It's these dam gate schedules that are the largest problem" Anakin griped lounging in one of the armchairs

"Unfortunately we have no choice but to adhere to them if we do not wish to attract to much Alliance attention" Dukhat responded from his dignified position behind Padme's desk "The next time that James can open the gate from his side and send things through is when he himself comes through for the Republic Day Parade at the end of the year"

"Brining with him representatives of the Tok'ra and any other allies to keep Alliance intelligence fixed on him and his guests not on the tech and other things that will be coming though with him I know" Anakin replied exasperatedly "But with the Alliance now nationalising every shipyard it has It's outbuilding us even more than before. Already they outnumber us three to one and our tech advantage won't keep them in check for much longer"

"We are already mass producing and stockpiling the new sublight engines and hyperdrives" Sha'dur noted from his position on the roman style lounger "When we have the other tech as well or when the Alliance declares war we can upgrade the fleet en mass by simply pulling out the old modules and installing the new ones"

"Are we certain that we can't begin the upgrades already?" Padme asked from her place by the fire

"It is to risky" Dukhat responded "We are already quietly upgrading several battle groups and the newly built ships but to upgrade the armada entire fleets would have to be withdrawn to space dock which is all the encouragement the GA would need to launch a surprise attack"

"When we open the gate in a few days to send reinforcements then we should receive the latest information and, hopefully, new upgrades to stockpile as well" Padme began after a moments silence "But this still doesn't change the fact that if the ga finds out what we are doing they will attack immediately before we have time to even attempt to install the new tech and in that case we are in real danger of loosing at least the initial engagements with the Alliance at the very least"

"And as Corellia is on the front line we are almost certain to loose the system and we will be forced to destroy the supergate rather than let it fall into Galactic Alliance hands" Anakin concluded disgustedly "Which will leave James permanently cut off from all support"

The group sat in silence at that statement

"We have to send him everything we can" Dukhat concluded "One more strong fighter or scientific genius will not make any difference here but if Kaitain is cut off it may be the difference between victory and defeat"

"Kaitain may well be the last bastion of our civilisation when this war is over" Padme said quietly "If we lose at least the Galactic Republic of Planets will continue on in the Milky Way"

It was a testament to how bleak the situation looked that that desperate thought brought them all a great deal of comfort

* * *

**Astarii Temple, Polaris – The Next Day**

In the Great Hall of the temple two brothers stood next to each other in the massed ranks of Astarii Padawans who were graduating. The Halliwell family had been among the most powerful force users for the last 300 years but these two were the first boys born into it in all that time. Wyatt Halliwell was 6ft 2 with a strong athletic build, strong handsome features, brown eyes and short dark blond hair, he was also the most powerful force user ever born in terms of raw power surpassing even Council Master Skywalker. His younger brother, Christopher Halliwell, stood slightly shorter at 6ft with a thinner more wiry build, delicate pretty features, intense green eyes and long brown hair coming to just below his ears, Chris was well above average in power but was still far below the level that his brother and Master Skywalker were at.

The two had joined the order as was traditional for their family but they had done so because it was their dream to be Astarii Knights not because it was expected of them and now 25 year old Wyatt and 22 year old Chris were graduating and being given the status of Astarii Knight. Wyatt had chosen the path of a Guardian where as Chris had chosen the path of a Sentinel but they had both managed to stay together throughout their training and now at last they had achieved their dream.

The ceremony progressed quickly passing Wyatt by until Chris nudged him in the ribs to get him to pay attention. Wyatt was about to nudge his baby brother back until what Council Master Skywalker was saying registered

"And in recognition of the skill and prowess that this promising young padawan has shown with a blade, defeating even myself in a saber only duel I am proud to pass on Excalibur to Wyatt Halliwell, the new Swordmaster of the Astarii Order"

"I'm dying" Wyatt thought as Chris pushed him forward with a smile "That's the only explanation, I've died and this is heaven" he ascended the steps to the dais on autopilot accepting the sword that was given to the best swordsman in the order before turning around to face the crowd. Despite all the cheering there was only one among them who meant anything to him at the moment, he searched him out amongst the crowd and he saw the bright smile on his brother face and the look of pride and happiness in his eyes as he applauded. Wyatt thrust Excalibur into the air and roared

With the ceremony over what seemed like half the Order had come over to congratulate him on his graduation and his new status as the Astarii Swordmaster "Which wouldn't be so bad" Wyatt thought "if they would congratulate Chris as well, from the way their acting I might as well be the only Halliwell here" he moved towards his brother to try and force the well wishers to acknowledge Chris as well but he was intercepted by Ans'las, the Grand Master Koren's Chief of Staff who had remained behind to help Council Master Skywalker adjust to his new duties

"If you would come with me Knight Halliwell Master Skywalker wishes to speak to you for a moment" the Dilgar woman said as she herded him out of the hall and across the plaza to the base of the Blue Tower

Ascending to one of the balconies on the first level Wyatt stood and waited for Master Skywalker to acknowledge him

"Knight Halliwell are you familiar with the expedition that the Grand Master leads?" Master Skywalker said turning to face him

"Thank the force the masters we were padawans to were highly placed" Wyatt thought before answering "Yes both Chris and I am familiar with it" he said aloud making sure to stress the both part of that sentence, he was fed up with people ignoring Chris especially given what he owed his younger brother and best friend

Anakin ignored the subtlety and ploughed on regardless "Excellent" he continued "In a few days we will be sending reinforcements and I wish to send you to be the commander of the new Rapid Response Squad. Your job will be to command this squad in it's quick, surgical strikes against enemy targets through the gate and the rescue of Isenguard gate teams"

Wyatt was stunned "But.. but.." he stammered "surely Council Master Rand would be better suited?"

"He would be" Anakin replied with a smile "If IS1 wasn't the team that usually needs rescuing"

"Will Chris be my 2IC?" Wyatt questioned recovering quickly

"Knight Christopher Halliwell is to be entered into the standard deployment here in the Republic" Anakin replied shortly with a frown on his face "It is your unheard of power that makes you suitable for this, to put it bluntly, battering ram team and Christopher simply does not have the power necessary"

Wyatt immediately tensed at the suggestion that his brother was weaker than him. Whilst that was true in terms of raw power it was certainly not true over all, quite the opposite in fact in Wyatt's opinion.

As a young teen Wyatt's power had been obvious and had attracted the attention of a family friend, Jedi Master Giddion. Seeing a chance to bring down the Astarii Giddion used his friendship with the Halliwell family to get close and for the 'greater good' used yasmmarii serum on Wyatt to bind his power and successfully kidnap him. Over the course of several hours he had beaten and tortured Wyatt attempting to turn him to the dark side so that he would destroy the Astarii from within and allow the Jedi to ride in and save the day, unfortunately for both kidnapper and victim Wyatt refused to break leading to more desperate measures. Chris had disobeyed his family's instructions to stay put whist they searched and had grabbed his fathers pulse pistol and followed the strong brother bond that had developed between the two, he arrived to find Wyatt tied naked to a table white with fear as Giddion disrobed to rape him. Chris had wasted no time in emptying the pulse pistols entire charge into Giddions back, thankfully before he could rape Wyatt.

Afterwards neither brother had told anyone about the attempted rape telling their family only of the beating and torture, Chris had stuck to Wyatt like glue for years afterwards helping him recover from the trauma by rushing to his brothers side whenever Wyatt got scared or had a particularly vivid memory. It had cost the younger brother dearly as the constant 'drop everything and run to Wyatt's side' lifestyle was not something his friends were willing to deal with nor conductive to study. When Wyatt had shakily suggested that he was ok now and Chris should concentrate on his life he was treated to a rant on fair weather friends and how grades weren't everything. After a year Chris had gone from top of the class and popular to barely passing and completely friendless but, as he constantly reminded Wyatt, that was his decision and he wouldn't change it for the world

Wyatt had vowed then and there **NEVER** to leave his brother behind and had kept that promise even going as far as to delay his application to the Astarii by 2½ years so that he and Chris could enter together. Chris was more than just his brother, he was the best friend and confidant Wyatt would ever have.

"I cannot accept" Wyatt replied in a tone that allowed no argument "Chris and I accepted that we may be deployed to different sectors but different galaxy's is simply to much. I must respectfully decline Council Master"

Wyatt quickly retreated before the stunned Master Astarii could attempt to change his mind

* * *

**Science Museum – Kaitain **

James Koren had had precisely one lover in his life, a Jedi named Gabriel Willows and that relationship had been emotionally if not physically abusive. Of course being raised as a Jedi where even affection was forbidden James had no knowledge that that was not how relationships were supposed to work. Now he knew better but it only made him feel weaker and more pitiful that he hand not done anything to stand up to Gabriel. This, along with the fact that Gabriel had sided with Revan and been sent to assassinate James forcing him to kill his former lover to survive had completely destroyed James's confidence and self worth. It had taken Atton and the others years to get him back to his current level of being nearly ready to date again. Nearly being the operative word

The epic disaster that was James Koren and Gabriel Willows was only compounded by the last act of the petty, bitter and defeated man. Using everything he had learnt about James over the years the Sith had spent his last moments doing as much damage as possible and convincing James that he was both unloved and unlovable. The people of the Republic never suspected that their Grand Master could rule on the battlefield and in the council chamber, and yet be completely dead inside

At the moment James was feeling the weight of depression crash down on him again as he felt Martouf's attraction for the woman who's name was constantly on his lips, Samantha Carter. "Gabriel was right" James thought "No one will ever love me and I was a fool to think otherwise" despite this he couldn't help but continue to lead Martouf and Lantash around the museum taking joy in the attention that Martouf was giving him even though he knew it would soon end when Martouf realised his feelings for Samantha. He didn't know it, but that was a large step on the road to recovery and soon James Koren would become immensely grateful that he was at last ready to try again

* * *

**Halliwell Manor – Rivendell City, Polaris**

"The Womb?! He had powers from the womb?! That's unbelievable, you know its not like I didn't have an inferiority complex with him already thank you" Christopher Halliwell exclaimed buying his face in his hands as his mother Piper babbled about how she always new how powerful Wyatt would be

Wyatt felt his heart break at the sight of his brother so depressed "This is supposed to be **our** day" he thought sadly to himself "the day we **both** realised our dream but now because of this stupid sword everyone has forgotten Chris, even our own family is ignoring him in favour of me today. It's not fair, after all he as given up for me he deserves so much more. How can he think he's inferior to me? Without him I would either be a sith, a terrified rape victim or a suicide statistic"

Before he could let rip at his family for seemingly forgetting that two people gained their knighthoods today his father returned from answering the front door with a visitor

"Council Master Skywalker" Piper exclaimed "It's wonderful to see you again. What brings you here?"

"A job offer" Anakin replied ignoring the death glares that Wyatt was sending at him "Wyatt of has already heard his but I'm afraid Christopher left the temple before I could tell him about the opening I wish for him to fill"

Wyatt promptly closed his mouth, if Master Skywalker wanted him to lead the Rapid Response Squad badly enough to offer Chris a spot on it as well then he wasn't going to ruin it

"Ans'las has been a great help to me" Anakin began "but she is now overdue for promotion. This leaves me with the difficult duty of selecting Grand Master Koren a new Chief of Staff and I believe you Christopher Halliwell are the best candidate if you will accept the job"

Their was a whumph as Chris promptly fainted and fell to the floor. If he was honest Wyatt felt like doing the same

* * *

**Kaitain Sector Citadel, Lothlorien City – Two Days Later**

General George Hammond tried not to look intimidated as he approached the throne set on a raised dais in front of stained glass windows baring the great seal of the GRP. This was a surprisingly difficult thing to do as the entire point of the cathedral like blue and gold room was to intimidate. He stopped at the foot of the dais and saluted smartly

"Grand Master Koren" he began "I have come to apologise for the conduct of my officers"

General Hammond spoke for several minuets outlining Earths history with Abydos, the fact that they had no knowledge of what Republic military forces looked like, that they had been told that it was the Goa'uld that were invading and that the Jaffa guarding the gate had seemed to support this information

"Rest assured that now we know of you such a mistake will not be made again" he concluded in his best command voice

He watched nervously as the ridiculously young looking leader of the Republic leaned back in the throne

"What you say has merit" James Koren mused aloud "and the fact that you fought the NID's request to have our troops taken away and tortured for information also counts in you favour. We will negotiate with you for a trade of technology and information"

General Hammond breathed a sigh of relief…

"If you disclose the stargate project to the following countries"

…and promptly stopped breathing

* * *

Right the next chapter will contain the proper disclosure and beginning of negotiations between Earth and the GRP. James Koren's reasoning will be explained as well this is just to get me back in the flow of this story after such a long break. Please don't flame if you dont like it. My muse is a little delicate atm as I havn't written anything in a while.

As Chief of Staff Chris Halliwell will be the 'explain your reasons to me guy' so that I can move away from the long internal monologues without making any of the expedition leaders look like idiots. A relatively inexperienced new graduate fits the bill nicely

Wyatt Halliwell is because I needed basically two Anakin Skywalker figures, one for each galaxy. My brother recently bought me series 1-8 of charmed so blame him

There will be no wicca powers. The Halliwell's are simply a very powerful force user family. The sole exception will be summoning the dead as the translucent blue figures in star wars cannon show that that can be done. The Halliwell's simply have the ability to summon them rather than wait for them to show themselves. Family secret.

For slash fans who liked the idea of Martouf I'm sorry but everything I wrote just looked like a three year old had written it. Tok'ra are hard. Tok'ra romance is impossible for me atm. But he you never know if you don't try

**Chris Halliwell **from Charmed played by Drew Fuller

http:// images . wikia . com / charmed / images / 5 / 5d / Chris _ promo . jpg

**Wyatt Halliwell **from Charmed played by Wes Ramsey

http:// images . buddytv . com / battleImages / usr3385920 / 3385920 _ a12a832f-aab9-42e4-870a-91bee84782b1-wyatt-halliwell . jpg


	10. The Status Quo

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Review Responses **

My thanks to all who have reviewed nicely

* * *

**Astarii Enclave – **The rebuilt jedi enclave made of stone is the closest. The central hub and the two wings are all much larger and taller

http:// starwars . wikia . com / wiki / File : 3 enclaves. Jpg

Search Jedi Enclave in starwars. Wikia .com

**Kaitain**

Google images 'starbase horizon'

* * *

**Chapter 10 – The Status Quo **

**White House Situation Room – Earth **

The President of the United States of America, Josiah Bartlet sat across from General George Hammond in the situation room of the US White House. With him was this Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Percy Fitzwallace, his National Security Advisor Nancy McNally and his Chief of Staff Leo McGarry "So how did it go?" The President Bartlet asked

"Well Mr President" General Hammond replied "We have successfully apologised removing the threat of retaliation and the Republic has also agreed to trade with us"

"Excellent! Well done George" The President exclaimed

"They have however decided to impose several conditions that we must meet before they will begin trade" General Hammond continued causing the table to sit in silence for a few moments

"Well I suppose we shouldn't be surprised" Leo McGarry said "We are the most powerful nation on Earth and we regularly impose conditions when others come to us for help"

"The Republic seems to have the power to do so as well" Admiral Fitzwallace reluctantly admitted

"It never feels nice when the shoe is on the other foot" Nancy McNally put in "Lets just be glad that they don't have the 'Manifest Destiny' mindset that some of our own people have. They don't right?" she said with a pointed look at General Hammond

"No" he said with relief "Though there are many parts of US society and other Earth countries that the Republic disagrees with they will not seek to impose their own values on us"

"What sort of things do they disagree with?" President Bartlet asked hoping to get a read on the public mood and leadership of the Republic

"The death penalty, the ban on Homosexuals serving in the military and the amount of influence religious groups have on the government are the main points of contention" General Hammond replied "Which is why they have a lot less problems with Europe since most country's there have no death penalty and no restriction on homosexuals in the military. The flip side of course is that the countries of Europe have official state religions which tends to make the Republic far more uneasy with them than us on that score"

The main political animals, President Bartlet and Leo McGarry looked at each other. All three of those points were highly controversial issues throughout the US with many arguments, both reasonable and unreasonable, coming from both sides.

"Well its good that their not trying to impose their values on us" President Bartlet said. As an opponent of the death penalty, a promoter of gay rights including military service, an opponent of gay marriage and a deeply religious catholic he was the living proof that nothing was black and white and that there would always be disagreements and compromises on these issues and many others

"Well we've seen the stick" Nancy McNally continued after a moment "What we have to consider now is if the carrot is worth the price. What exactly are they offering?"

"They are playing their cards very close to their chest on that" General Hammond reported "We know we will get something but exactly what they won't reveal until formal negotiations begin"

"Which they won't until we meet their conditions" Leo McGarry concluded looking thoughtful

"If I many" General Hammond spoke up "even what they consider to be obsolete tech would be a great boon for us…

* * *

**Tok'ra Tel'tak, Kaitain – Two Days Previously**

General Hammond, Major Carter, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c stood behind Martouf in the cockpit of the Tel'tak they had taken from the Tok'ra base to Kaitain. Grand Master Koren had wanted them to arrive this way to maximise the 'shock and awe' factor of Kaitain and to keep it's location and gate address secret from the Tau'ri

"We are dropping out of hyperspace now" Martouf said as they exited hyperspace on the edge of the system

"Well it certainly looks well defended if a little cold" Daniel Jackson spoke up after a moment viewing the tundra type moon of the gas giant in front of them

"Indeed" Teal'c responded "I see many defensive platforms and dozens of ships of the Icestorm and Hurricane class's. With such forces deployed as a standard garrison of one of their main bases the Republic could be formidable allies"

Inwardly Martouf was laughing "Do you want to tell them or shall I" he thought to Lantash "_Oh please let me tell them" _Lantash replied the situation appealing to his sense of humour

"The Republic must be very advanced to deploy so many ships to guard this moon" Major Carter observed "It shows that they have far more ships than we predicted"

"_You are more right than you know Sam" _Lantash responded fondly_ "This is the prison moon used to house captured Jaffa and other prisoners of war, the ships and platforms you see are to guard against any escape or rescue missions that the inmates may mount, The Planet Kaitain is much deeper in the system"_

The SGC members looked shocked as the Prison Moon disappeared behind them. This only increased when they approached a rocky planet on the edge of the life zone with large mines and smelters on its surface and massive constructs in orbit, again dozens of Icestorms and Hurricanes patrolled with hundreds of platforms orbiting the planet and constructs, several Firestorms were present as well

"Well what is this place?" General Hammond asked as they did not alter course to head to the planet

"_That is the planet Ix with the Republic Milky Way Shipyards in orbit" _Lantash responded as they proceeded deeper into the system_ "although they are commonly known simply as the Kaitain shipyards. They are constantly refitting Republic warships with new tech, repairing ships or constructing new ones and the civilian section is second to none in terms of its cargo freighters, passenger liners and personal transports"_

If the massive shipyards hadn't stunned them into silence the thought that commercial companies and even individual civilians could buy and operate hyperspace capable ships certainly did the trick. That soon ended as Daniel started speculating aloud at the effect that being able to buy a ship and head out into the unknown like the old American pioneers had done would have on an industrialised society. At the same time Major Carter franticly attempted to figure out what tech had to have been used to lower the manufacturing costs of interstellar space ships to the same as Earths pleasure yachts that even the upper middle class could afford

Both trailed off as another planet came into view. It was a beautiful Earth like world with three suns lighting it up with blue, purple and orange light, two massive starbases orbited above hundreds of warships and thousands of weapons platforms. As they swept lower Miranda City with its graceful curves and multilevel streets became clear before they left it behind and the towers of Lothlorien City came into view as they touched down at Victory at Corellia Spaceport

As the SGC members picked their jaws up off the floor Martouf said the only thing appropriate "Welcome to Kaitain Sam" he whispered

* * *

**White House Situation Room – Two Days Later**

General Hammond finished relating their journey to the Republic's Milky Way Capitol to the President and put his briefcase onto the desk

"in addition they provided this as a 'welcome to the interstellar community' gift and to entice us" General Hammond continued bringing out several bottles of pills and a formula from his briefcase"

"Well what is it?" Admiral Fitzwallace asked

"It is a cure for cancer" General Hammond replied getting looks of shock from the other participants "Apparently it is a lot more efficient and far less toxic than our current treatments. There are drawbacks to it, mainly if the cancer advances to far the collateral damage that this drug causes in its removal will kill the patient, however if the cancer is that advanced they would be far beyond our current medical treatment anyway. The drug also attacks the reproductive cells as well as cancer cells causing permanent infertility but overall it gives the humans of the GRP a 90+% cancer survivability rate without the need for surgery"

"Well its not weapons technology" Admiral Fitzwallace commented after he'd recovered from the shock "But if that's what their willing to give away as an enticement I'd say we can't afford to let this pass us by"

It was a sad fact that the state of the galaxy meant the SGC was primarily geared to weapons and power generation tech. Though many wished that medical and other tech were higher up the list the simple fact that Earth could be annihilated at any moment made that impossible. Now there was a chance to remedy that and hopefully get some military tech as well

"What are their conditions?" President Bartlet asked

"A new international body is to be formed" General Hammond reported "It is to have sole control over Earths interstellar diplomacy and military capacity with executive power vested in a council containing one representative from each nation. The Republic insists that the body must include the five permanent nations of the UN Security Council and whist their membership is not required if we also bring several other nations on board we will face a much more moderate stance at the negotiating table than the hard-line stance we would receive otherwise. The Republic feels that the new body should ideally contain the following countries"

**Mandatory **

USA

Great Britain

France

Russia

China

**Preferred**

Canada

Australia

Germany

Japan

"The Republic also requires a guarantee that any tech it trades with us will not end up in the hands of countries not part of this body and that we do not allow countries such as Iran, North Korea, Zimbabwe etc.. to enter. They do not wish a situation like the current UN where The Sudan sits on the UN's human rights commission whilst simultaneously engaging in genocide against it's own people. They feel that this group should be based on the most civilized countries not 'get as many countries on board as possible' like the UN is as that compromises the founding principles. China forms the minimum level of freedoms that member nations must display"

Privately General Hammond thought that the Republic wished to be much tougher with the entry requirements but then it would be a western only club plus Japan which would have lead to trouble from a nation as large and powerful as the Peoples Republic of China. If they were on board then the more oppressive nations would have no one to lobby to relax the rules and let them in, China couldn't criticize the new organization if they were in it.

The others looked uncomfortable. It was after all a very large condition. America would have to give up sole control of the Stargate and the President of the United States himself would be bound to follow the orders of the new council when it came to other planets. President Bartlet felt his eyes drawn to the pills and formulas sitting in front of him. The price was high but so were the rewards. He had to think carefully about this, at last there was an advanced civilization ready to help them leap ahead, with Earths enemies closing in around her could he really afford to turn them down?

* * *

**Miranda City – Kaitain**

Daniel and Sam looked in awe at Miranda City. Having expected the 'expedition' to be small they had looked at the information on Lothlorien City that the Tok'ra had sent but skipped all of the others thinking them to be small towns or villages. The idea that there was a human civilization that had spread out over a large chunk of a galaxy was still a little much for them to take in, the shear numbers of a single sector were mind boggling

Where as Lothlorien was built in the style of elegant towers soaring up into the atmosphere Miranda was much more spread out and closer to the ground. It's buildings were mostly white and in curves and angles, any shape except squares and boxes and the entire city was multi level.

"Its amazing" Daniel whispered "Each level complements the other, its like a massive game of jenga each level has gaps and sections missing and then it plunges down below the one previously beneath it only to soar back up again. It looks like a living web, no level overshadows another and sunlight still illuminates the ground as well as the upper levels"

"It's an amazing feat of engineering" Sam agreed as she looked around "the materials have to be massively strong and flexible to hold up a structure like this. Its such an intricate web that its own weight is distributed along thousands of small pillars, there is simple no room for the massive load baring pillars we would need if we ever tried to creates something similar" Sam then tore herself away from admiring the city to admire the air speeders flying overhead and between levels

"You are always thinking of the how Samantha" Martouf said fondly from his place beside her "Relax and enjoy the view for a moment, you will have plenty to analyze when we board the maglev train"

"Maglev train?" Sam said her snapping around to face Martouf "What's the maglev train?"

* * *

**Astarii Enclave – Kaitain**

The maglev train turned out to be a monorail train that moved by electro magnets. Whilst the carriages sides wrapped underneath the monorail like the wheels that allowed a rollercoaster to go upside down the monorail was turned into an electromagnet with a northern polarity. The bottom of the train was then turned into a electromagnet as well with the same northern polarity and the magnetic forces repelled each other causing the train to float. Then a section just in front of the train was switched to a southern polarity attracting the northern polarity of the train and pulling it forwards. Samantha Carter spent the entire 400 mile an hour train ride attempting to find out how it worked and wishing she could be allowed to take it apart.

Exiting the station they found themselves before a plain stone building with two wings and a circular central core. The Astarii enclaves had not changed in design since they were first built as copies of the Jedi enclave on Dantooine albeit larger. Martouf waited in the outer courtyard enjoying the serenity of the gardens and the surrounding grass plains whist Daniel, Sam and Teal'c were lead inside.

Daniel was surprised when they stopped, not in an office but in a circular internal courtyard at the centre of the enclave with a large tree at its centre and grass, shrubs and fountains around the outside. He recognized the two figures waiting as Council Master Atton Rand, who was sitting beneath the tree, and Grand Master James Koren, who was brushing his hand through the cascading water of one of the fountains. Both stood and motioned them to one of the many benches scattered around before nodding at their guide who quietly left

"Welcome to our enclave SG1" James said once they were all seated "I understand that there were some questions that you wished to ask us?"

Daniel was very nervous but he spoke first as had previously been agreed incase the Grand Master was inclined to grand only one request "I wish to be allowed to travel through the Stargate to Abydos. My wife Sha're was host to the Goa'uld Amonet and now that she is free I desperately wish to see her again but your troops control the Abydos gate and will not let any SGC personnel through"

James and Atton looked at each other before James replied "Do I have your word of honor that you will not attempt to influence our negotiations with the Abydonians for a Naquada mine?

"You do" Daniel replied inwardly cursing the SGC's lack of foresight. They had been searching the galaxy for years for planets with naquada but had completely forgotten that Abydos was colonized by Ra precisely because of the abundance of that mineral and that the locals owed them a favor to boot. Many pentagon and SGC members were kicking themselves over that one

James looked over at Atton again "I do not sense that he is lying" Atton responded to the unasked question

"Wait a minuet you can read out thoughts?!" Daniel exclaimed

"No" James replied "Only your emotions, the empathy skill is one that even the weakest of the Astarii can master and few can fool it. Of course accomplished liars can fool the weaker Astarii as their awareness does not go beneath the surface but you are speaking to two of the most powerful and experienced of the Astarii and both of us have experience successfully lying to other force users. We cannot tell what you are thinking but we would know instantly if you were lying"

"I best not mention that I could read his surface thoughts if he was nearby when I entered a meditative state" James thought to himself "they're uneasy enough about us knowing his emotions though they seem to have recovered from that shock quite quickly"

"He only said that he could tell if we were lying" Samantha thought to herself "Does that mean that he cannot detect lies of omission? Or if we give him a little information and let him reach his own, wrong, conclusions? I hope so otherwise negotiations are going to be a bitch" Aloud she asked her request "This is another thing that we wished to discuss. You must understand our position, no one on Earth has your talents and we have seen many aliens using technology to masquerade as gods or magicians and we simply wish to…"

"You wish to find out if we are lying duplicitous bastards pulling the strings of a puppet government and using technology to hide the fact behind mysticism" Atton broke in causing James to raise an eyebrow at him

"Well… I… that is…" Sam said floundering at the blunt summary of what most in the SGC including herself were thinking

"One thing that you should know about us Major Carter" James replied "Is that the first thing we teach our apprentices is that there is no such thing as a stupid question and the second thing that we teach them is to question everything they do not understand. Council Master Rand will accompany you back to the SGC so that you may run your tests"

"I will?!" Atton said looking over at James "I don't remember you asking me to do that!"

"Yes I find that things go a lot smoother when I skip that stage and go straight on to the next one" James replied with a smile at his best friend alleviating the tension

* * *

**Stargate Command, Earth – The Next Day**

General Hammond stood at the bottom of the ramp along with Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Teal'c and Dr Frasier. Daniel Jackson was already on Abydos having done an immediate about face as soon as SG1 returned by stargate yesterday

The stargate whooshed as it activated and a figure stepped though, General Hammond had not seen this particular Astarii in person before but even if he did not know who was coming he could have figured it out from the uniform. The cream coloured boots and leggings and the silver braid belt with a pentagram buckle marked the man as an Astarii and the gold embroidery on his cream coloured tunic marked him as a sentinel. The Embroidery was the second most elaborate he had ever seen making this man a Master of the High Council of the Astarii, and their was only one of those in the galaxy. "Council Master Rand, welcome to Earth" he said as the figure walked down the ramp

Atton took in the gate room swiftly noting the two guarded exits, the control room windows, the briefing room windows and inspection hatches on the gate room roof hatch that he could reach using his wrist launchers grappling hook. Having surveyed all escape routes he gave his attention to the rotund base commander

"You already know Major Cater and Teal'c…"

Atton bowed respectively to both

"…this is Colonel O'Neill my 2IC…"

Who was still nursing a grudge if the crutches and glares were anything to go by

"…and this is my CMO Dr Janet Frasier"

"Wow" Atton thought upon seeing the pretty red haired Dr "Hey there" he said aloud with a wink as he bowed to Dr Frasier

"Oh please" came quietly from his left

Dr Frasier ignored O'Neil's comment. "Flattery will get you no where but don't stop trying" she said "Now If you will come with me to the infirmary I need to perform a complete physical examination before you can go roaming around the base"

"A complete physical exam? Lead on sugar" Atton flirted as he followed her towards the door

"Keep that up and I'll break out the really big needles" Dr Frasier replied as she lead Atton out of the gate room. The remaining occupants smiled as they heard Atton's audible gulp as he followed the short but formidable woman towards the infirmary

* * *

**The Oval Office, The White House – Earth**

President Bartlet sat in a chair at the head of two sofas upon which were seated his Chief of Staff, his National Security Advisor and his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

"So has anyone come up with any idea how we can spin this in our favour?" he asked is assembled advisors

"Yes Mr President" Leo McGarry answered "The idea actually came from the Republic itself so it won't see it as circumventing their conditions, or at least not enough to break off negotiations"

"Go on" President Bartlet asked intrigued

"Well the new council that will hold executive power over Earths interstellar foreign policy and military command is a lot like the Republic Security Council so I propose we steal the Parliament of the Galactic Republic of Planets and put in a lower chamber that controls all the money and other essential resources"

"Well how does that help us?" Admiral Fitzwallace asked

"Because" Nancy McNally replied with realisation "Any lower chamber would be based on population which would place power in the hands of the most populous countries"

"And it's a fair bet that the smaller nations like the UK, Canada and the others will be more inclined to follow the USA's lead rather than Russia's or China's" Leo McGarry concluded "and with the USA controlling all the money not many would be willing to vote against us in the council"

"It's a good plan" President Bartlet replied after a moments thought "The USA remains in overall control of the stargate, for the most part, and we comply with the Republics conditions allowing us to trade for advanced technology"

President Bartlet moved over to the door and stuck his head out into the lobby "Debbie" he said to his secretary Deborah Fiderer "Would you get the State Department on the phone please? I'm going to need to speak to several ambassadors soon"

"There is one thing we have to do Mr President" Nancy McNally said as President Bartlet sat back down "As you know there is a cancer in the NID and we have been using internal resources to try to cut it out. However given their stance on the capture of Astarii Master Brianna and how strongly they pushed for torture their continued existence is going to be a major source of tension with the Republic"

"You think they will go to war with us if the NID pisses them off?" President Bartlet asked seriously

"No" Nancy McNally replied "But if the NID does piss them of then the Republic's Intelligence Directorate is going to retaliate and then were going to have a war of assassins in our own back yard"

"Well then there's only one thing we can do" Leo McGarry concluded "We transfer all the agents we are sure of to somewhere else, and then we destroy the NID"

"That still doesn't remove the problem of Senator Kinsey" President Bartlet said "But I like the thought of two intelligence agencies involved in all out war because the NID keeps going behind my back even less. We'll deal with Kinsey later, Nancy begin transferring the agents"

"Yes Mr President"

* * *

**Samantha Carters Lab, SGC – Earth**

"Bad Janet, Bad Janet, just focus on the displays, don't look through the window" Dr Frasier thought to herself as she sat in front of the computers in Sam's lab. The reason for this was on the other side of the window in an isolated lab with recorders but no other technology stood a virtually naked Atton Rand. Major Carter had put him though every scanner known to man to rule out cybernetic technology and had forced him into just his boxers to remove any technology hidden in his clothes and now she was ready to begin the tests again

"Janet are the readouts normal?" Major Carter asked. Getting no response she tried again "Janet… JANET!"

Dr Frasier jumped and snapped back to the terminals "eerrrm yes Sam all readings are normal" she replied blushing

Major Carter hid a smirk as she hit the intercom "Ok Atton start levitating things" she called

Dr Frasier felt her eyes involuntary leave the screens and watch Atton's muscles bunch up as he extended his arms and began levitating several objects. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

The UN does seem to let any nation in despite their human rights abuses, it is in no way fit to represent Earth in it's current form and there is no time to change it so a new international organization needs to be formed. Any name suggestions will be welcomed though I have a few of my own in mind

I know I promised disclosure in this chapter but the buildup ran much longer than I thought it would. Sorry! Chapter 11 will be disclosure now.

Though the republic wishes to limit the power of the USA when it comes to making decisions for Earth the USA is going to be equally determined to keep that power. I hope I've done a convincing job of them trying to get round the Republics conditions and maintain American dominance of the Stargate

I have no knowledge of the American system of government beyond watching the West Wing and as President Hayes doesn't appear until season 7 I had to use what I know other wise it would fall apart. Hopefully that doesn't bother people to much.

In the next chapter we see disclosure and reinforcements arriving at Kaitain

Reviewing takes 30 seconds. Please do so, I like to get conformation that people are actually reading this and I'm not just writing to myself


	11. Birth of the CNE

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all who have reviewed nicely

**Note: **All Republic ships, fighters etc… are now listed along with their armament and size on my profile page and with working links to the images

* * *

**Christopher Halliwell **from Charmed, played by Drew Fuller

http:// images . wikia . com / charmed / images / 5 / 5d / Chris _ promo . jpg

**Wyatt Halliwell **from Charmed played by Wes Ramsey

http:// images . buddytv . com / battleImages / usr3385920 / 3385920 _ a12a832f-aab9-42e4-870a-91bee84782b1-wyatt-halliwell . jpg

* * *

**Chapter 11 –**** The Birth of the CNE**

**Stargate Command – Earth**

"I still don't see why I have to be given yet another physical" Atton Rand complained from his place in the infirmary

"Well we have to double check that your still in good health before we allow you topside" Dr Frasier explained "Don't worry this will be the last one"

"Well wadaya know" Atton teased "You'll have to use dinner and wine to get my clothes off from now on then"

"Nurse" Dr Frasier called whilst glaring at Atton

"Ah, you can't threaten me with big needles" Atton said with a smirk "you've already taken all the blood you need"

"Nurse bring me the rubber gloves" Dr Frasier said with a look of pure evil on her face "I think we need to do a prostate exam"

Atton paled dramatically "You know Janet I've always said that Drs are wonderful people, why don't I take you to Kaitain and show you the hospitals, the university's, the restaurants?"

Several minuets of grovelling later Atton managed to evade the clutches of the little napoleon and make his escape from the SGC infirmary

* * *

**Victory at Corellia Spaceport – Kaitain**

The reinforcement of Kaitain had begun a couple of hours ago and was expected to last the rest of the day, thankfully the Halliwell brothers were in the first wave through and had managed to get a room at one of the travel lodges that provided the spaceports overnight accommodation

Wyatt Halliwell emerged from his room in his black, silver and sapphire blue battle armour, clipped his single hilt lightsaber to his belt and checked himself out in the mirror before moving into the main room. He was reporting to General Corazon Santiago soon and wanted to make a good impression. A smile came over his face as he saw his neurotic younger brother trying to get his new uniform to sit properly on his sholders

Christopher Halliwell's tunic was unique, the gold embroidery showed his status as Knight but additional silver embroidery made his tunic as elaborate as the Grand Masters. This was to remind the other Astarii that whilst the Chief of Staff was only a Knight they held the full confidence and authority of the Grand Master and all Astarii were obligated to follow any order that they gave.

"You know if there was any more metal on that uniform we could stick you on the roof and use you as a lightning rod" Wyatt teased

Chris elbowed his big brother in the stomach as Wyatt helped him to get his uniform on straight, Wyatt was active, laidback and constantly teasing where as Chris was much more quiet, neurotic and thoughtful. Chris looked in the mirror and saw Wyatt standing behind him with a look of pride on his face, though he would never admit it Chris secretly craved his much more popular and powerful older brothers approval and that look was the best gift that Wyatt could have given him today

"Are you nervous Wy?" Chris asked using his pet name for his brother as he turned around and brushed the last of the carbon scouring off Wyatt's armour

"Yeh" Wyatt admitted "I'm going to be under the direct command of Corazon Santiago, one of the most decorated officers in the entire Grand Army who's tactics are required reading for the military academies, of course I'm nervous"

"Me to" Chris said quietly

"Hey" Wyatt said placing his hands on his baby brothers shoulders "You'll do fine. Of course I'll have to say I'm adopted, I cant be related to the Chief of Staff, its worse than being an Admiralty brat"

Chris gave his brother his signature quirky half smile relaxing with Wyatt's teasing "Well I certainly can't be seen to be related to an infantry grunt, you'd probably use your lightsaber to carve the roast at dinner parties"

Wyatt laughed as they both headed out to report for duty

* * *

_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain **

Christopher Halliwell tried to calm his breathing as he was shown into the Grand Masters office aboard the Indomitable class starbase_Defiance of the Night _in Kaitain orbit, he stood before the Grand Masters desk and waited to be acknowledged

James Koren looked up from the report on the USA's political manuvers and the list of ambassadors summoned to the Pentagon that afternoon and was thrown by the very attractive young man standing before him. "Yes Astarii, what can I do for you?" he asked using the general line to buy time to force himself to concentrate on what the young knight was saying rather than his hot body

"I'm to report to you as your new Chief of Staff Grand Master" Chris replied uncertainly "Has this all been Josh's last revenge? getting me to make a fool of myself? Wasn't it enough that he bullied me throughout my apprenticeship?" Chris thought to himself as he began to panic and come up with ever more elaborate ways that his old school bullies might have orchestrated this current situation

"Ah, I haven't had time to read Anakin's dispatch yet, your appointment is most likely in there, I do apologise" James said recognising the signs of internal panic Chris was showing, it was subtle but if you suffered from the same thing yourself it was easy to spot

James motioned Chris over to the lounge like portion of the office used for more informal meetings and pulled out an armchair for the pale young man "I can't say I blame him" James thought "being tricked into reporting as the Chief of Staff would be a nightmare that few would ever get over and I know cause Gabriel tried it on me. Thank the force I found out before I attempted to report for duty"

He moved over to one of the cabinets lining the walls and fished out a bottle of his favorate rose wine and two glasses "Well I guess congratulations is in order Knight…"

"Halliwell, Christopher Halliwell" Chris replied nervously taking the glass

"Ah yes Christopher Halliwell" James replied taking a sip and enjoying the sweet fruity flavour of the wine "You are the second born of Master Piper and Leo Halliwell right?"

Chris was very flattered that the Grand Master even knew who he was and didn't mention Wyatt, if Astarii knew him at all it was usually as Wyatt's little/weak brother

"Yes that's right" Chris said taking a sip from his own glass

"Not your cup of tea?" James asked with a smile as he saw the look on Chris's face

"No it's actually quite nice" Chris replied "not what I usually go for though"

"Well your drink preferences are one of the many things that I don't know about you" James said "Why don't you give me a little summary of yourself"

"My graduating scores are in the dispatch Grand Master" Chris said slightly embarrassed as he knew that his scores were high but not spectacular

"I didn't mean your scores" James chided gently "The highest scores are often gained by know-it-alls who have memorised the textbook and regurgitate it on demand, such people will not last long in this job. Anakin is a sharp cookie and if he thinks that you would make a good Chief of Staff then I do as well

Chris nodded as he gathered himself, he had been preparing himself for the Grand Master to reject him and order Master Skywalker to chose another candidate and the revelation that James Koren himself saw something in him and thought that he was up to the job was thrilling

"So" James said looking into Chris's eyes intending to convey confidence and calm, instead he became enthralled by the intense emerald orbs. Thankfully the coms unit sounded

"Excuse me a moment" James said as he moved over to the com unit

"Grand Master, Director Tal Shiar needs to speak to you and General Santiago immediately" his secretary said

"Tell the Intelligence Directorate that I will meet with them…"

"Sir it's Director Tal Shiar herself calling" his secretary interrupted "She says it's ultraviolet priority"

Situations that required the personal attention of Flag officers were coded bronze, silver, gold, violet and ultraviolet in order of priority so that said flag officers could decide who dealt with what and in what order

James sighed "Tell her that I am on my way and prepare my shuttle for launch" he said shutting off the com unit before walking back to where Chris was sitting "Well I'm sorry Knight Halliwell but duty calls. You have two days before your due to report for duty"

"Thank you sir, I won't let you down" Chris responded quickly standing up and shaking hands

"I still feel that we know far to little about each other Knight Halliwell" James continued as he picked up various documents from around the room "The restaurant at Hotel Majestic in Lothlorien City is an excellent place for a meal, would you like to go there tonight?"

"I… I…" Chris stammered

"Ah you already have plans for your first night on Kaitain" James rescued him "No matter, another time perhaps"

"No I can make tonight, I'm sure Wyatt wouldn't mind" Chris said not wanting to disappoint James before he'd even started

"Ah the traditional drinking binge then" James said with a smile

Chris walked into a chair and nearly fell over

"What you think I was born 34 and a Grand Master?" James said with laughter in his voice "I think I might be able to give you and Wyatt a run for your money in terms of drinking stories. Why don't you bring him along tonight? I'm sure I can drag Corazon along and then both of us can get to know our new seconds before your little exploration of Kaitain's nightlife"

"That would be wonderful" Chris replied inwardly pleased that James had invited General Santiago as well as Wyatt, a subtle reassurance that, just this once, Chris was the star of the show

"Excellent, I look forward to seeing you tonight Knight Halliwell" James said as he made for the door

"Call me Chris" Chris blurted out before turning red as James tuned around "I mean calling me Knight Halliwell is going to get old pretty fast so just call me Chris"

"Only if you call me James when we are alone" James replied lighting up the room with a 1000watt smile when Chris nodded

James Koren swept out of the room heading for the Intelligence Directorate and the next crisis

* * *

**Astarii Temple, Polaris**** – 4 Hours Later**

Council Master Anakin Skywalker sat behind the desk completing paperwork when he suddenly got an ominous feeling of impeding doom

"My God!" he exclaimed

"No Anakin. It's just your boss" the hologram of the extremely pissed off James Koren replied "What did you think you were doing by appointing Christopher Halliwell as my Chief of Staff?"

"Why? Is he not up to the job?" Anakin replied "You did task me with promoting Ans'als when I felt I no longer needed her and then assigning her replacement"

"Anakin have you ever met him?" James said exasperatedly

"No not in person" Anakin replied "I've been in the same room but…"

"Just boot up the file" James said resigned to his fate

Puzzled Anakin did so, a massive grin appeared on his face when the life size hologram appeared "Oooo is he as sweet as he is cute?" he teased

"Yes. Now help me out here!" James replied testily

"No can do" Anakin sing songed his response "as far as I can see your pretty much screwed"

Anakin collapsed in laughter as the usually polite and reserved James Koren began banging his head on the desk and running though all the profanities he'd picked up over the years

* * *

**The Pentagon – Earth**

A large semicircular table filled the bunker deep beneath The Pentagon that was currently host to several ambassadors. At the open end was a large plasma screen that was undoubtedly going to be used for some kind of presentation, at the head of the table was the place setting for the USA. The other place settings showed the flags of Great Britain, France, China, Russia, Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan. Great Britain had peen placed directly to the USA's left which told the ambassadors that America was about to reveal something that did not show them in a good light and needed the support of their closest ally. Of course given the way they had been treating said closest ally lately that support was far from certain. The last place setting directly to the USA's right was the most disconcerting for the ambassadors, a silver pentagram was emblazoned on a red and black background, a symbol that none of the ambassadors could ever remember seeing before. That such an unknown body had a place at this gathering of nations made an already uneasy situation all the more confusing

The ambassadors stood to attention as the President of the United States entered the room along with a companion dressed in a cream and gold tunic. The ambassadors looked at each other in confusion as tunics had gone out of fashion for all but medical staff several centuries ago. "Please be seated" President Bartlet said as he took his seat.

Once the Ambassadors had done the same General George Hammond and Major Paul Davis stood to either side of the plasma screen and awaited their President's order

"Gentlemen" President Bartlet began "I have called you all here to tell you of Americas most top secret project that we have been operating for nearly three years. It is called the Stargate Project"

Major Davis promptly rattled off the history of the Stargate from it's first discovery in Egypt in 1928 to the day that Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson realised that the Stargate could dial planets other than Abydos and the formation of Stargate Command

The ambassadors all sat their numb. Had this been just the military saying this many would have walked out at such an obvious hoax but President Bartlet would never risk his diplomatic credentials by being complicit in such a poor joke. That meant that however impossible it seemed these officers were telling the truth

The British ambassador broke the silence "Well assuming the first of April hasn't arrived without me knowing and there are no television cameras ready to pop out at any moment, these aliens that threaten to destroy Earth even as we speak"

"The Goa'uld" General Hammond supplied

"Uh huh" The British ambassador "They built the stargate?"

"No sir" Major Davis replied "The Stargate Network was built by a much older race of aliens that have long since disappeared. While the Goa'uld regularly use the gate they also use powerful ships as well to subjugate transplanted human cultures as slave colonies and worshipers" He activated the screen

"This is a fighter craft called the udajeet or death glider, it is pitifully ineffective when compared to our own designs but unfortunately it is the only Goa'uld craft that is. A Goa'uld mother ship carries three squadrons of death gliders giving a total of 48 fighters"

The picture changed "This is a Goa'uld mid range bomber called an Al-Kesh, it is well armed against fighters, capitol ships and ground targets and carries an energy shield for protection. It can also cloak itsself from all methods of detection and the naked eye although it cannot engage shields or weapons when it does so. Each mother ship carries one squadron of Al-Kesh giving a total of 12 bombers"

The picture changed again "This is a Goa'uld Ha'tak class capitol ship, the standard Goa'uld vessel. As well as it's fighter and bomber compliment it also carries 60 ship to ship weapons and energy shields with which to defend itself. It is 700m long by 650m wide and 315m high. Each Goa'uld System Lord operates entire fleets of these. A System Lord's flagship is typically several times this size"

"Collectively the Goa'uld field hundreds of thousands of these vessels" General Hammond put in "We should be thankful that they use slave labour and medieval industry methods as if they used our own industrial methods their fleet strength would be in the millions"

"The Goa'uld are more advanced than us in every way and their can be no doubt that they have hostile intentions" President Bartlet concluded

"Can we negotiate with them?" The Canadian ambassador asked hesitantly

"The Goa'uld are a predatory species sir" Major Davis explained "They will enslave a population or in the face of resistance simply wipe them out. Only one race has ever scared them enough that they came to the table and that race has hundreds of thousands of warships that are vastly superior to the Goa'uld's at their command. We are simply one planet and we have no space based defences, they will not negotiate with us"

"The Goa'uld MO is to begin with orbital bombardment of the surface" General Hammond took over "This is designed to take out planetary defences and instil fear in the planetary population. Once they have completed their orbital bombardment they will then send in their Al-Kesh to conduct tactical strikes on any remaining ground position and then they'll put their troops on the ground. Each Ha'tak class vessel is capable of transporting 2,000 troops as its standard compliment.

"If what you are saying is true" the French ambassador began "Then the united states as unilaterally taken action that has placed the whole world in danger"

"Believe me that was not our intention" President Bartlet spoke "but on our first mission through the Stargate or team was forced to kill a Goa'uld known as Ra to return home. We had no idea what we were walking into until it was to late"

"Why was the death of this Ra so important? The German ambassador asked "Could you not have shut down the stargate and let them believe another of their kind had killed him"

"That would have worked" General Hammond answered "Except that Ra was the Supreme System Lord, leader of the System Lord Collective and ruler of the Goa'uld Empire"

All the ambassadors winced as they realised the implications of that little jaunt

"When we did shut down the gate a Goa'uld known as Apophis sent two of his Ha'tak to sterilise Earth" Major Davis replied "We managed to destroy both Ha'tak, an achievement that very few worlds can boast. However this was done by internal sabotage and it is unlikely that such a approach will work again"

"We asked you here because the nations represented in this room make up the bulk of this planets military capacity" General Hammond began

"Ahem" Atton coughed

"And because it was a condition of our new allies" He reluctantly admitted

The ambassadors all looked at Atton

"Though Stargate Command has negotiated Earth's entry into the protected planets treaty" General Hammond continued "it is only a matter of time before a Goa'uld becomes confident or desperate enough to attack again. To this end we have been searching out allies and technology with which to defend ourselves"

"Our condition before beginning negotiations was that a new international body was to be formed that had power over Earths foreign policy and controlled all Earth military forces that left the planet" Atton said and began outlining what the Republic expected

"And what gives you the right to dictate such terms?" The Chinese ambassador asked

"The fact that the Galactic Republic of Planets has well over 1 million member worlds not counting mining and scientific research colonies" Atton answered

The meeting promptly descended into anarchy

* * *

_**Defiance of the Night**_**, Kaitain – 12 Hours Later**

"Well how did it go?" James Koren asked the hologram of Atton Rand that appeared in front of his desk

"Remind me never to go into politics" Atton griped "They eventually decided to leave the Stargate where it is under General Hammonds command although the other countries will be contributing multiple SG teams each. In return the US Air force is no longer in command, the new international body's own armed forces are, just like the UN has their own peacekeepers, and the SGC personnel are being transferred to this new command structure as we speak. All military forces going off world will be under their command and ships will be crewed by the individual nations but will be operated under one command structure"

"That sounds perfectly reasonable" James mused "Anything else?"

"They have all agreed to maintain secrecy whist at the same time preparing the population of Earth for disclosure through small controlled leaks" Atton replied "As soon as disclosure is announced they will all walk out of the United Nations making it clear that the new body with it's strict entry requirements is the only voice of Earth as far as the rest of the galaxy is concerned"

"Good, it seems about as much as we could hope for" James answered "I assume they will be ready to begin negotiations by the end of the week?"

"Yes, as soon as they have chosen a negotiator" Atton responded "Though them choosing an ambassador is going to be another matter entirely"

"Alright then" James concluded "By the way seeing as 'The United Nations' and 'The League of Nations' are taken what are they going to call themselves?"

Atton responded with a smile "The Confederate Nations of Earth"

* * *

**Wikipedia:** Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, **confederations** tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign affairs, or a common currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all members. A confederation, in modern political terms, is usually limited to a permanent union of sovereign states for common action in relation to other states.[1] The nature of the relationship among the states constituting a confederation varies considerably. Likewise, the relationship between the member states and the central government, and the distribution of powers among them, is highly variable. Some looser confederations are similar to international organizations, while tighter confederations may resemble federations.

This seemed to be the most appropriate form of government to describe the IOA. The US can assume to have been overruled if they tried to block it due to US civil war overtones

**Note: **All Republic ships, fighters etc… are now listed along with their armament and size on my profile page and with working links to the images

Extra points to all who know where I got the Director of the Intelligence Directorate's name from

It was good TV to have Senator Kinsey brief the other countries in disclosure but something that important? No way would any leader have let any subordinate do it, especially not one that was after their job.


	12. Striking from the Shadows

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

A Reminder of the ranks

Military: Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

Astarii: Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all who have reviewed nicely

In responce to the question of how a cancer cure could be distributed it would be relativly simple to go to a drug company and say 'take this, test it and pass it off as your own no questions asked' especially if you had something on the CEO. Alternativly the government could set up a company themselves with Dr's in the know who basicly re write the origanel reaserch journals into English. Quite simple really

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Striking from the Shadows**

**Tok'ra Embassy – Kaitain**

Director Tal Shiar, General Corazon Santiago and Grand Master James Koren sat at the meeting table in the heart of the Tok'ra Embassy. Martouf had called Director Shiar who had in turn called Corazon and James to hear the news that one of the Tok'ra's best agents had uncovered

"_As you know Selmak has been infiltrating_ _Sokar's domain" _Lantash began_ "He has discovered a disturbing development. Sokar is building a new battleship on one of his planets that outmatches the standard Ha'tak fielded by the System Lords by far" _

"What exactly is the problem?" Corazon Santiago asked in her strong Spanish accent "Goa'uld build flagships all the time"

"_This is different" Lantash replied "This is exactly what it is named as, a battleship designed to replace the Ha'tak cruisers as Sokar's primary attack vessel"_

That made the three other people present in the room sit up and take notice

"_Selmak believes that once this prototype has been completed and tested Sokar will retool all of his Ha'tak producti__on to this new battleship model and when combined with his new flagship, who's construction site we have still not been able to locate, Sokar will have a personal escort fleet capable of smashing any other System Lords full fleet with ease and Ha'tak aplenty to defend his territory and support the new battleships as he continues to construct them" _Lantash concluded

"And to think that I actually thought this day was going well" James thought to himself "Right that obviously cannot be allowed to happen" he said aloud "Sokar is to much of a threat with his standard Ha'tak's let a lone a completely new and more powerful fleet"

Martouf's head dropped as he took control from Lantash "The Tok'ra High Council agrees" He replied "Anise suggested the use of Anotek armbands that we have been studying for some time to enhance a small IS or SG team but we do not know the side effects of such technology. As the planet is to heavily defended for an space attack using the strike group you have placed under our command to be successful we have no options left"

"Knight Wyatt Halliwell has been training the Rapid Response Squad extremely hard this last week" Corazon put in "He should be able to capture the Stargate and sabotage this new battleship before it is completed"

"It is to far behind Sokar's lines to mount a space based attack" Tal confirmed "A ground assault is our only option although the multiple Ha'tak in orbit will be a major obstacle, we dare not use any heavy weaponry lest we attract their attention"

"Very well" James replied "Tell Knight Halliwell to have the RRS ready to carry out the sabotage mission as soon as possible"

General Santiago and Director Shiar bowed and left to carry out his orders

"You know that will only solve the immediate problem" Martouf spoke up "Jacob and Selmak report that Sokar is far to free thinking for a Goa'uld, he is inventing and improving the standards Goa'uld technology and industrial methods at an alarming rate and eventually something is going to slip though our nets just as his industrial shipyards did"

"We may have to assassinate Sokar or deliberately provoke him into starting a war with the System Lord Collective before he is ready" James mused aloud "The System Lords are certainly on edge recently given how much damage the Tok'ra Strike Group is doing to them. What's the count now?"

"4 Naquada mines 1 Ha'tak construction settlement and 1 secret science facility along with the 7 Ha'tak that were guarding them" Martouf replied with a very evil and satisfied smile on his face "The System Lords are all blaming each other or Sokar as they do not yet know that we have access to warships"

"Good score" James replied "I'm glad your keeping them off balance. We shall wait until Jacob and Selmak send their next report before we discuss the situation with Sokar in more detail but I agree that we have to deal with him soon. On a lighter note how are things here in the embassy?"

"They are well" Martouf replied with a smile "The sensation of being above ground and safe is one that our operatives have never felt, it is doing them a great deal of good"

"They are enjoying their rest and relaxation then" James asked

"Very much so" Martouf replied "Many enjoy the cultural museums and entertainment here in Lothlorien City, those that do not are quickly becoming fond of the pubs and night clubs so prevalent in Miranda City"

James's lips twitched as he recalled several reports about the Tok'ra's exploration of an entire galaxies worth of alcoholic beverages and the results there of

"The mediation sessions run by the Masters in the Astarii Enclave are also very popular amongst us" Martouf continued "it helps many of us to recover from our actions whilst spying and the memories of countless Goa'uld atrocities that we all carry"

"War always scars all who see it" James murmured quietly "Still the Embassy itself is satisfactory?"

"Very much so" Martouf replied gratefully "Malek has recently put out a contract for the installation of a gym, a cinema, our own pub and a theatre for those hosts who now have the time to share the stories and poetry of their home words with people other than their symbiote, perhaps I can take you on a tour?"

"Another time" James replied with a smile "The Director of the Science Directorate wants to meet with me this afternoon. It appears he finally has some good news concerning our ship upgrades"

* * *

**Science Directorate, Miranda City – Kaitain**

Despite many of it's labs being in Lothlorien City the headquarters of the Science Directorate was in Miranda City to be closer to the testing grounds where several of their technologies were refined before entering general production. Today Grand Master James Koren and Chief of Staff Knight Christopher Halliwell were paying a personal visit to the HQ to receive what promised to be the first good news about the ship upgrades for some time

"Master Koren, Knight Halliwell, welcome to the Science Directorate" Director Greg Sanders greeted them. The Director was young for his position being only 60 years though a 200 year lifespan. He appeared to be what would be considered mid 30's on Earth and had an trim body with short brown hair with blonde highlights. He was still wearing his white lab coat and James idly wondered whether he ever took it of

"Thank you Director Sanders" James replied "I hope you don't mind if we proceed straight to the news about the ship upgrades? There will be plenty of time for pleasantries later"

"Of course" Director Sanders replied "This way" he lead them into a small briefing room evidently used to brief VIPs on the status of the Directorates most sensitive projects. James and Chris sat down as Director Sanders moved over to the head of the table and began updating the Grand Master and Chief of Staff "All Warships have now had the hyperdrive and sublight engine upgrades installed giving them a top speed a little slower than that of their Goa'uld counterparts and we also managed to equip over a hundred ships with a ring platform before we ran out of them"

"Make a note to have the Intelligence Directorate steal some more" James whispered to Chris before turning back to Director Sanders

"We made sure to ensure that ring transporters were placed on at least one ship from each class" Director Sanders extrapolated earning an approving nod from James "but then we hit a little snag. We've managed to design and test a new fusion reactor that uses Naquada as it's fuel and the power it gives out is simply off the scale however we are still having trouble with combining the Goa'uld shield technology with our own defence screens. But, and this is the really exciting part, we finally managed to get a cloaking device working that will cloak anything up to a Phantom Stealth Cruiser, unfortunately the field becomes to unstable when we try to cloak anything larger but…"

James's head snapped round to face him "It works?" he demanded

"We've tested it under every condition imaginable, it works" Director Sanders confirmed

"Have the prototype installed on a Phantom before tomorrow morning" James commanded

"But that will…" Director Sanders protested

"I'm well aware that losing you're prototype will slow down full scale production" James interrupted "but I have a feeling it will be needed soon"

Director Sanders acquiesced "Using the knowledge gained in our attempts with the cloaking device we have also been able to upgrade the Minbari Stealth Field on our larger warships, it still won't stop the Goa'uld sensors but it will cause considerable headaches for Galactic Alliance warships again

"Good Well done Director" James complimented as he stood up "Now what else did you wish to show me today?"

* * *

_**Defiance of the Night**_**, Kaitain – Two Days Later**

"Morning sir" Chris said as he entered the Grand Masters office "The Tau'ri have finally decided on their representation"

James looked upwards giving thanks to every deity in existence that the Tau'ri finally decided "Thank the force" he said causing Chris to give him a quirky half smile "Who have they chosen?"

"A man named Richard Wolsey is to be the Confederate Nations of Earth's permanent ambassador here on Kaitain" Chris said checking his pad "But a woman named Elizabeth Weir will be the chief negotiator in this first meeting. They and a… Dr Frasier will arrive in two days"

James smirked at the thought of the woman whom Atton had fallen for but who kept continually putting him in his place, it was very amusing to hear about and he suspected it would be even more amusing to watch

"Have Atton meet them" James replied with a smirk on his face

"Yes Grand Master" Chris replied dutifully before turning to leave

"Hold it Chris" James called out before he could leave "What's bothering you"

"Nothing Sir" Chris replied

"Chris you only call me Grand Master when you disagree with something that I am doing" James replied exasperatedly "Now out with it"

Chris reluctantly sat in the chair in front of James's desk "I do not understand why we are negotiating with them given their fractured world politics and primitive technology. Nor why you have authorised the sale of ships and weapons" he replied honestly

James steepled his hands before thinking how best to explain his thoughts "Earth has access to a stargate" he began "and we cannot legitimately take that away from them unless they show due cause such as conquering other civilisations. This means that they are eventually going to beg, borrow, trade or steal enough technology to begin producing starships. If at this point they begin to invade innocent worlds then we will be forced to stop them in a long and bloody battle against warships with unknown capabilities to force them back to Earth and there is no guarantee that they will not successfully evade us through the stargate network and return one day to seek revenge, say what you will about them the Tau'ri are skilled, tendentious and lucky. However if we provide them with stopgap warships whilst helping them to design their own we know what we are up against if they do decide to become an empire of conquest and if they do not then we have gained a great deal of goodwill and a formidable ally in a galaxy where our enemies are numerous and we are few"

Chris's mouth dropped open in realisation "Your giving them all the rope they want and seeing if they hang themselves with it" he whispered

James smiled "You never know if your teenager is responsible enough to handle a pulse pistol until you give them the keys to the armoury and see what happens"

* * *

_**PKSB **__**Isenguard – **_**Kaitain**

Wyatt Halliwell was standing alone in the briefing room looking over the stargate. His plan to sabotage the new battleship had begun and below the officers were readying his force of 200 elite troops to head through the stargate to MW824169 where Sokar was secretly constructing his new battleship. It was going to be tricky, the gate was heavily guarded and he could not use any heavy weapons or vehicles as that would alert the Ha'tak in orbit and the thousands of Jaffa around the planet that something was wrong.

"You weren't leaving without saying goodbye were you?" Chris asked as he entered the briefing room

"Never" Wyatt answered with a smile coming over to hug his baby brother

"Just come back in one piece" Chris whispered trying to keep the fear he felt at the thought of loosing his brother out of his voice

"I always do" Wyatt whispered back hugging Chris tighter

* * *

**MW824169**

Over the last two days _Isenguard _had been sending minor tributes through the stargate as though a minor Goa'uld was trying to curry favour with Sokar, what the Jaffa guarding the gate did not know was that as soon as they had let their guard down and stopped scanning the area with the anti Retou weapons after the 6th time the stargate activated and they detected nothing but the tribute snipers using stealth field generators had come through as well and had taken up positions in the tree line. Wyatt now came through with the last shipment to find himself facing two staff cannon towers, 10 staff cannons on tripods and ~100 Jaffa all with their weapons pointing at the stargate. Reaching deep within himself he used the force camouflage ability to supplement his stealth field as he walked to the tree line whilst the Jaffa removed the small box of naquada that had come through with him and ringed it up to one of the Ha'tak in orbit

Hiding in the bushes he ran through his plan one more time. By now the Ha'tak in orbit would be used to the Stargate activating and would have once more focused their sensors outward defending against any attacks from space. As long as no one warned them and the staff cannon towers did not fire then they would have no reason to focus back on the surface. Of course any tanks or rockets carried by the heavy troopers would light up their displays as surely as the staff towers would which was why he had come through along with the last shipment

His timepiece vibrated and Wyatt stood up and reached out with the force towards the towers, the Force Crush was a dark side power usually used on people because it had so little affect on durasteel, this did not account for Wyatt's unheard of power levels. As he reached out the tops of the towers began to deform and groan. The Jaffa commanders immediately reached for their communication balls but never got the chance as the 5 Peacekeeper snipers began picking them off as fast as possible. Not one of them managed to get a message off

Sweat poured from Wyatt's forehead as he put everything he had into his force crush and finally the towers collapsed and folded in on themselves to form unrecognisable balls of metal which crashed down on top of the ring transporter between them. Wyatt screamed and let the remaining power he had gathered sweep out from him in a force wave blasting the Jaffa who had begun to fire blind into the tree line. His timepiece vibrated again and the Stargate activated allowing the troops of the Rapid Response Squad to pour through firing on anything that they could see.

Staff cannons on tripods fired into the mass of troops as fast as they could blowing some Peacekeepers apart and sending others flying in all directions. They slowly began to fall silent as the snipers recognised the danger and took out their gunners, Jaffa ducked behind low ridges and tried to keep up a volley of return fire to cut down the Peacekeepers as they exited the stargate but jetpack troopers leaped into the air and poured fire into them from above and behind. Across the battlefield staff met vibrosword as the Jaffa left in the open were either cut down or closed to engage in mêlée combat, heavy troopers threw plasma grenades and thermal detonators behind the ridges killing Jaffa and blasting holes that they then charged through getting behind the ridges and trapping the Jaffa in a murderous crossfire

Wyatt used one saber to block the strike from Jaffa on his left swinging his second single hilt around to decapitate one on his right whist he used the force to help him balance and deliver a kick to the chest of the third who was attempting to strike him from behind. Swinging around he blocked the Jaffa striking at his back with an over the shoulder guard driving his other lightsaber through the heart of the Jaffa on the ground before dropping and rolling and coming up on one knee to catch the downward strike of the last Jaffa by crossing his lightsabers. With the Jaffa's staff trapped between his lightsabers Wyatt thrust both hard to the right forcing the staff to the right and whist keeping it there with his right lightsaber he quickly swung his left lightsaber back at the Jaffa's unprotected stomach. His sapphire lightsaber burned through armour and flesh with ease cutting the unfortunate Jaffa in half

Breathing hard Wyatt stood up and took stock, his squad had taken out the last of the Jaffa and had begun piling up their own dead that thankfully looked to be only a coupe of dozen troops "Thank the force that no one got a message off" Wyatt thought as he turned to look at the Battleship under construction several kilometres away "Now hopefully our luck will hold a little longer"

* * *

**Stargate Command – Earth**

"Report" General Hammond said as he entered the control room as the 4th chevron encoded on the Stargate

"Sir we just got our first hit with the cold address program" Major Carter replied P2X-416"

"Prepare the MALP" General Hammond ordered one of the airmen who promptly left the control room

"What's up" Daniel Jackson asked as he entered the control room to see the MALP heading up the ramp and through the event horizon of the Stargate

"The cold dialling program made a positive hit on P2X-416" Major Cater replied

"I wonder why" Daniel mused aloud

"It looks like the locals have unburied the stargate since the computer last dialled" Major Carter theorised

"See that's what I don't understand" Colonel O'Neil put in "How does the computer know how to do that?"

"It doesn't sir" Major Carter replied with a smile "I programmed it to redial cartouche stargate addresses that hadn't connected the first time. This is our first hit"

"We're receiving MALP telemetry now" one of the airmen reported

The group studied the pictures being transmitted back by the MALP. It was in a facility that seemed to be specially designed to hold the stargate, designed along similar lines to the SGC it had the room was isolated with only one exit and their were heavy weapon emplacements and permanent barricades and bunkers holding troops, all of which were pointing weapons at the MALP

"Wow that looks like a technological society" Major Carter said surprised

One of the soldiers approached the MALP hiding behind something similar to a police riot shield "It appears to be a probe Commander Osara" he called back to a heavily armoured viewport two stories up the opposite wall "I am unsure whether it contains any communications equipment"

"Hello" Daniel said into the microphone "My name is Daniel Jackson, I'm speaking to you from another planet, one we call Earth"

The solider appeared to receive a communication that the MALP could not pick up

"Is this probe armed Daniel Jackson?" he asked

"Oh no no no" Daniel replied "You misunderstand we wish to have peaceful relations with your people, the MALP is no threat to you"

"It seems to be unarmed" the solider reported into his communications device "I can see no visible weapons and the alien ambassador claims it is not a threat"

The members of SG1 and General Hammond watched fascinated as a woman with long chestnut hair in a pony tail entered the room and advanced towards the MALP behind two new soldiers with riot shields she crouched down so that the camera on the MALP was level with her face "I am General Tria" she said "Welcome to Optrica people of Earth"

"General Tria" Daniel said excitedly "Would it be possible to visit your world? We would like to learn more about your peoples culture and history and perhaps trade as well"

"Whoa now Danny" Colonel O'Neill exclaimed "Whata ya doing?"

"Well sir there obviously close to our level of technology" Major Carter replied "We could learn a lot from them"

"They also control all access to the stargate how do we get back if something goes wrong?"

"We've got passed worse before" Daniel replied shortly

"Peaceful explorers are always welcome in Optrica" General Tria replied "As are traders and all with good intentions. I warn you though if you wish to spy or steal the you will face the full force of our laws"

"That will not be necessary" Daniel said excitedly "We will be with you shortly"

"Suit up SG1" General Hammond ordered as the stargate shut down

"Dammit Daniel if this all goes FUBAR I'm blaming you" Colonel O'Neill griped as they left the control room

"Yes Jack" Daniel replied teasingly

* * *

Hey everyone. I know I'm messing with the timeline a little bit but Apophis's battleship had to be under construction before he took over the territory from Sokar. I'm just using it to give all you guys a little action to break up all the negotiations

I've also brought New Ground forward to before SG1's little jaunt to Hell rather than after so that the SG1 fans will see that I am ready to begin increasing the Tau'ri's power again and not have them pitifully weak when compared to the Republic. Exactly how will be revealed later

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	13. Caspian's Gambit

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to Trife for reviewing

**Note: **Ship Prefixes and their meanings have been added to my profile. ie PKC PKSB etc…

**Note: **The description of the troopers amour can be found on my profile. It is standard 501st Legion clone trooper amour with the white parts done in blood red and the blue parts done in section markings. Gold/Command, Black/StandardTrooper/HeavyTrooper/SpaceMarine, Bronze/JetpackTrooper/Sniper Blue/Engineer/Pilot

**Note: **I noticed that I made a mistake mentioning the episode THE OTHER SIDE in the last chapter. I have removed it and we will see it in its proper time later

* * *

**Chapter 13: Caspian's Gambit**

**MW824****,169 – Mountain Shipyard**

Wyatt had left a 120 of his 200 men, including all of his heavy and jetpack troopers and snipers at the stargate so that if anyone aboard the Ha'tak in orbit looked at their sensors then they would see the correct amount of lifesigns and assume that the Jaffa garrison was in place and guarding the gate. They also served to keep the line of retreat open should everything go to hell. Wyatt lead the remaining 56 men towards the battleship being constructed atop a mountain two kilometres away, the other 24 troopers had died storming the Jaffa positions at the gate, mostly from blasts from the staff cannon artillery pieces before the snipers managed to take out their gunners

Two Jaffa guarding one of the entrances to the mountain were quickly felled by multiple hits from the Peacekeeper troopers pulse rifles and Wyatt paused motioning two troopers who's armour was the command black red and gold towards him. Major George and Major Douglass were the two remaining senior commanders as Wyatt's 2IC Lt. Colonel Deveron had been left in charge of securing the stargate.

"George" Wyatt ordered "Take 19 men and sweep the western half of the complex, Douglass take 19 men and sweep the eastern side. Make sure to plant your thorium charges at the four compass points on the lowest level, want to destroy the production facilities here in the mountain as well as the battleship above. Listen to your engineers as well, this is a constriction facility if they say that the high IQ boys back on Kaitain will want something and you don't think that it will slow you down grab it when you head back to the gate. Both of you will hopefully have your charges planted before me so you should have time to high tail it back to the gate and wait for my team before we set off the charges remotely. Set the timers so that they all detonate 2 hours from now just in case we are discovered before we can detonate them"

"Yes sir" the two Majors acknowledged Wyatt's orders and lead their groups into the mountain

Wyatt turned to the 15 remaining troopers, 14 wore the standard troopers black and red armour and one the engineers black red and blue. "Alright techie" Wyatt said to his engineer "where do we need to place our charges?"

The engineer brought up the battleship schematics "As you know explosives do the most damage when they are detonated in a confined space" he began "since the battleship's hull is incomplete it would be best to place our thorium charges here on the deck directly above the main reactor. Not only will it do significant damage to the battleships structural integrity as the hull in that area is mostly competed but the falling debris will certainly sever the reactors cooling system"

"Wait" Wyatt said "This is an entirely new reactor design. How do we know overheating it is bad?"

"If it wasn't a problem they wouldn't bother cooling it" the engineer replied

"Then why don't we blow the cooling system directly?" Wyatt asked

"Because access is restricted by these force fields here" The engineer replied showing Wyatt the schematic on his computer tablet "They are permanently active and taking them down by guile or by force will set of every alarm from here to Polaris. Placing our charges in the area above the reactor is our best chance for success"

"Good enough for me" Wyatt said after a moments thought "that location is deep within the battleship though and the Pel'tak is only a couple of decks above, we will have to be very careful to get in and out unseen"

* * *

**MW824****,169 – Battleship, 1 hour 15 minuets later**

Wyatt and the 14 troopers with him covered the door with their pulse rifles as the last member of the team set the thorium charges. Major George was already back at the gate and had collected several goodies on the way back, it appeared that the western half of the complex was where the delicate materials were stored prior to being incorporated into the battleship. Major Douglass had just signalled over the com unit that he had cleared the mountain and was heading back to the gate, the eastern half was where the slaves assembled the various parts making his movement much more difficult than Major George's but the charges were planted and unnoticed

"Come on techie" Wyatt whispered it's a 20 minuet trip back to the gate not counting how long it will take us to get out of here, we want to be long gone by the time these things go off"

"Almost done sir" the engineer whispered back before turning back to the charges and entering the last few commands and codes "All set, she'll blow in 45 minuets with the others or when we detonate them"

"Alright guys" Wyatt whispered "Back the way we came nice and slow"

It was at this moment that their luck ran out

* * *

**MW824****,169 – Orbiting Ha'tak **

The Jaffa manning the 12 Ha'tak orbiting MW824,169 were unfortunately vigilant, serving the Goa'uld Sokar made them so as Sokar was as likely to torture them to death for his own amusement and pleasure as for failing in their duties. This gave all Jaffa serving him a great incentive to do their jobs properly and not to attract any attention whatsoever and unfortunately that is what this Jaffa was doing on his shift monitoring the Ha'tak's sensors "My lord" he said calling out to the minor Goa'uld who commanded the ship "there are 140 lifesigns around the stargate where there should be 100 and 20 more lifesigns have left the construction sight and are heading towards the stargate at a rapid pace"

"Contact the gate guards commander" the Goa'uld commanded with a troubled frown on his face "Ask him what transpires down there"

* * *

**MW824****,169 – Battleship**

Wyatt had been forced to divert up a deck to avoid a Jaffa patrol that was blocking their original route back but otherwise everything seemed to be going well and they remained undetected. That was until the alarm began blaring and Jaffa began pouring into the corridors

"Sithspit" Wyatt cursed "They've discovered us, quickly techie call up the schematic and find the most direct route, were going have to fight our way out"

The engineer never got the chance as a Jaffa patrol came running around the corner firing their staff weapons at Wyatt's team. Wyatt quickly used one of his lightsabers to defect bolts back at the Jaffa whilst his troopers took cover in the alcoves along the walls that the Goa'uld architecture dictated be there and quickly dispatched the Jaffa with the more powerful, rapid and accurate shots from their pulse rifles. Unfortunately the respite was short-lived as the weapons fire had drawn attention and more Jaffa could be heard baring down on their position

"Quickly techie" Wyatt commanded as the team quickly retreated down the corridor

"We don't have the schematics for this deck" the engineer responded "the Pel'tak deck and the one above and below it are missing from our schematics, they were to well protected for the Tok'ra to steal"

"And that just had to be the deck we're on. Grea… shit!" Wyatt cursed as the lead trooper slammed into a force field

"They've activated the internal force fields" The engineer exclaimed "There's going to be one every few hundred yards of corridor and there will be blast doors at every intersection"

Wyatt quickly moved up and thrust his lightsaber into the middle of the force field making it crack and fizzle, grunting with the effort required to keep his lightsaber in the field and ignoring the pain from the small lightning bolts coming from the lightsaber/force field interaction that were travelling up the hilt and causing mild electrical burns on his forearms. Wyatt's tenacity paid off as the force field collapsed and retreated into the floor just as the Jaffa caught up with them and began pouring fire on them again

Unable to escape because of the force fields and blast doors that would slow them down and allow the Jaffa to overwhelm them Wyatt's team slipped into the next room they came across which seemed to be the personal quarters that would be used by whatever Goa'uld would command the ship

"Makes sense, we are only a deck below the Pel'tak" the engineer commented

Wyatt came out of his daze "Techie hack that computer and see if there is another way out" he ordered "the rest of you lets make this monstrous furniture into a barricade we can fight behind"

* * *

**MW824,169 – Stargate**

As a Cerean Lt. Colonel Quentin Deveron had a second heart in his head to pump blood to his dual brain giving him a special hatred of the helmet part of his armour. He had taken it off so as to get a better look at his surroundings "Well it's not Cerea" he thought "but it seems excellent just the same, unspoiled by industrialisation. Well except for that monstrosity of a battleship over there"

"Colonel!" one of his comms officers called "Colonel Halliwell reports that the Goa'uld have been alerted to our presence!"

"Incoming Death Gliders and Al-Kesh" the engineer manning the portable sensor station reported "Major Douglass is still 8 minuets away and Colonel Halliwell is still aboard the battleship"

"Dial the gate and take up defensive positions" Lt. Colonel Deveron ordered "engineers, jetpack troopers and snipers through first and take a goodie crate with you quickly before those Death Gliders and Al-Kesh get here. troopers watch out for Jaffa from the ground bases and the Ha'tak's, heavy troopers weapons free, use your rockets and get those ships out of my sky!"

The stargate activated and the Peacekeepers began to retreat through it as Deveron picked up his com unit "Douglass pick up the pace were going to have company"

Just as he finished giving the orders the whine of approaching Goa'uld craft became audible as they approached and became visible on their bombing and strafing runs. Unable to bombard their position from orbit without hitting the stargate and blowing up a large portion of the planet the Goa'uld had had to resort to an air attack, the Heavy Troopers dropped to one knee, raised their rocket launchers and waited for the steady tone of a missile lock

Missiles with blue engines leaped from the heavy troopers launchers and slammed into the suddenly evading Death Gliders and Al-Kesh, rapidly maneuvering the Death Gliders rolled and turned franticly but still lost several to direct hits from a single missile. Confident of their superiority most of the Al-Kesh continued with their bombing runs only to find their shield strength cut in half by the first missile impact, depleted by the second and blew apart from the impact of the third, the surviving Al-Kesh aborted their runs and franticly banked with their belly turret firing at the Peacekeepers trying to keep them from fining a second volley as Major Douglass's team came hurtling out of the tree line

* * *

**MW824,169 – Battleship**

"Wyatt you best get here soon we're taking a pounding!"

Wyatt ducked behind the barricade to answer letting his troops continue to return fire at the Jaffa who had them trapped in this room "Quentin we're not going to make it, retreat now" he ordered

"We can hold them off till you get here" Lt. Colonel Deveron replied over explosions on both ends

"Negative, they have us trapped and they've just sent for staff cannons to finish us off. We're not getting out of here now retreat before you loose any more men" Wyatt ordered cutting the comlink. He reached for the detonator for the thorium charges receiving nods from his team who had been listening in. None of them intended to be captured alive to be repeatedly tortured to death and revived in a Goa'uld sarcophagus

* * *

**MW824,169 – Stargate**

Another group managed to make it through the stargate but Lt. Colonel Deveron was not leaving yet and neither were several of his troops covering the retreat. Colonel Halliwell had greatly impressed them since his arrival, they would stay if only to witness his death as the battleship went up. He deserved that much

* * *

**MW824,169 – Battleship**

Wyatt reached for the detonator button

And suddenly froze as the ring transporters in the back of the suite activated, half the troopers turned round ready to blast the latest wave of Jaffa that had decided to come from behind. Their jaws dropped as the rings retracted to reveal a Peacekeeper fleet officer

"Did someone call for a lift? The Minbari asked

* * *

**MW824,169 – Orbit**

Commandant Raphael Caspian was a tall Sebacean with a muscular build, olive skin, shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes. He was also the highest ranked officer of the Intelligence Directorate in the field and commanding officer of the Directorate's première stealth cruiser, the _PKC_ _Inquisitor_

Two days ago the Science Directorate had installed the new cloak aboard _Inquisitor _and Grand Master Koren had dispatched them here to monitor the RSS's progress sabotaging Sokar's new battleship. Flying straight passed the 12 Ha'tak's orbiting around the planet also made a great field test of the cloak

_Inquisitor _rocked violently as weapons fire impacted her defence screen "The closest Ha'tak has entered weapons range" the sensor operator reported "and three others are abandoning their orbits and moving to intercept us"

"Return fire" Caspian ordered in his thick Spanish accent knowing it was futile. The Phantom class of cruiser was designed specifically for information gathering and carried only 10 HL7 Turbolasers, 20 flak guns and a stealth fighter squadron. They were in no way meant to enter combat with enemy ships of the line "and have the flak guns lay down a full enemy suppression barrage, we have enough problems without adding fighters and bombers to the mix"

"Should we not launch fighters?" his XO asked as _Inquisitor _continued to rock violently from the Ha'tak's weapons fire

"Helm course 070 mark 4. We'd never recover them before we jumped to hyperspace" Caspian replied his voice strained as he saw the mounting damage reports "we just have to hope we can survive long enough to get out of here. Helm come about 324 mark 7 keep us dancing, if that Ha'tak is going to shoot at us I don't want to make it easy for them"

* * *

**MW824,169 – Battleship**

"Techie come on!" Wyatt shouted at the only other person remaining "The rest have ringed up we have to go!"

"Just a few more seconds" the engineer said franticly as he continued to furiously type on his computer pad "I'm almost there"

Wyatt ducked as a shot from a newly deployed staff cannon whizzed passed to obliterate the far wall "Ok we gotta go!" he yelled ripping the tablets cord out of the control crystal panel of the Goa'uld computer, grabbing the engineer in a fireman's lift and activating the rings

"There aboard sir" he heard as they rematerialised in the black octagon corridors of a Peacekeeper warship, exhausted he sank to the ground

"What was so important?" he asked the engineer panting next to him

"I got it" the engineer replied "one of Sokar's top lieutenants was going to command that ship and the computer contained all the info he would need, the ship schematics, designs for the new shields and weapons, troop deployments, spy reports, everything and I managed to download pretty much all of it before we had to leave"

The engineer removed his helmet to reveal a madly grinning Twi'lek "You name it, we have it!" he exclaimed

Wyatt sat their stunned for a moment before remembering the detonator "Well lets make sure they don't know we have it" he said with an evil grin "Quentin we've been rescued by a Phantom and I'm detonating the charges, see you back at Kaitain" he yelled into the comlink as he pushed the button

Down below the battleship and its construction mountain blew apart in a massive fireball. Nothing remained

* * *

**MW824,169 – **_**PKC Inquisitor**_

_Inquisitor _lurched to one side as explosions rocked her "The defence screen has failed and a second Ha'tak has entered firing range" the weapons officer reported

"Even our formidable armour won't stand up to this for long" Caspian thought "Can we jump to hyperspace?" he called out

"Negative the Ha'tak keeps placing itself directly in our path we can't open a hyperspace window" the helmsman reported

"Then we have no choice" Caspian concluded "Helm all ahead flank"

"All ahead flank aye sir" The helmsman reported numbly

The entire C&C watched the range close rapidly as _Inquisitor _hurtled towards the first Ha'tak that continued to rain fire on the no longer evading cruiser

"Sound collision" Caspian ordered seemingly unaffected by the explosions around the C&C as the armour began to breach under the Ha'tak's sustained fire

The collision siren blared as the range continued to close

"She's changing course sir, hard a port" the helmsman called out

"Hard a starboard all back starboard engine" Caspian called out, treated to the sight of the oncoming several million ton mass of _PKC Inquisitor _the Goa'uld had blinked first and now the two ships franticly banked away from each other. Everyone was knocked to the floor as one of the leading edges of the Ha'tak struck _Inquisitor _ripping a large gash down her port side as she roared passed but her space frame held against both the collision and the stress of having one engine full ahead and the other in full reverse

The Goa'uld could only watch in horror as with the Ha'tak no longer blocking her _Inquisitor_ leaped to hyperspace heading back to Kaitain

Sokar would be sure to express the extent of his displeasure at their failure

* * *

_**PKSB Defiance of the Night **__**– **_**Kaitain**

"Ah Chris" James said as Chris Halliwell entered his office having just received the news that Wyatt was safely aboard _PKC Inquisitor _and would be back on Kaitain in two days "do you have any plans tonight?"

Chris froze like a deer in the headlights "No?" he answered warily

"Good answer" James said with a smile "I've been invited to the Tok'ra recital tonight"

Chris didn't like where this was heading "Your not going to do this to me are you?" he said despairingly

"Absolutely" James declared with an evil smile on his face "If I have to suffer so do you"

Chris dropped his head onto James's desk and groaned

"Who knows" James continued "it could be fun"

The look that Chris gave him left no illusion about how likely he thought that would be "Do we really have to go?" he asked

"Our alliance with them is still young" James replied "We can't do anything to offend them right now"

"And telling them that we don't want to go to their chosen method of expressing their culture is offensive" Chris said sarcastically

"Well what would you call it?" James replied struggling to contain his laughter

"Truthful?" Chris answered hopefully

* * *

**Lothlorien City Theatre – Evening**

Though Chris would never admit it he had had a small crush on James Koren ever since he first saw him in action in the news reports from the front lines of the Yuuzhan Vong war. However he had always thought that even though the Grand Master was gay he would never see anything in him, indeed he had always thought that if the very remote chance that Master Koren fell for a Halliwell came to pass then it would be Wyatt that he was interested in which was why he was both excited and dreading the trip tonight

"Ok this is nerve-wracking" Chris thought to himself "On the one hand this is as close as I'm ever going to get to a date with James so I'm exited, on the other hand this is as close as I'm ever going to get to a date with James so I'm dreading it. Why can't emotions be simple?" Chris moved to check his appearance in a nearby reflective surface and noticed the source of his confusion enter the grand lobby

Chris's heart skipped a beat, James had dressed in a silver turtleneck with black leggings and boots and had leather braid bracelets on his wrists. Overall the effect was breathtaking the silver matching his ice blue eyes

Chris rapidly cloaked his feelings so that James could not feel his desire. If James never knew that he liked him then he would never have to suffer the pain of rejection which, however gentle, was something that Chris always feared

"WOW" Was the only thought that James managed to articulate before his brain shut down. Chris had chosen black boots and leggings and a black tunic with the Halliwell crest in red thread over his heart and had finished with a deep sea green wood necklace that complimented his dazzling emerald eyes perfectly. "Ok" James thought "Gota get a hold of myself before I scare him off, he's probably straight anyway" Shielding his feelings James got himself back under control and approached Chris dismissing the fleeting feeling of desire he got from him as wishful thinking

James leaned in close "Hi" he whispered with a pleasant smile "Ready to undergo an example of Tok'ra interrogation techniques?"

"Force his laugh is enchanting" James thought to himself "And he smells really good, denim aftershave? I'll have to ask Atton"

Chris leaned in even closer "lets go and face our deaths bravely" he whispered in James's ear enjoying the closeness between them whilst it lasted

Chris walked slightly behind James as they left the lobby and headed to the Grand Masters personal box which saw a lot of use when the great classical plays were being performed "I'm walking behind because that's how we are supposed to travel even off duty, I'm not walking this far behind so that I can check out his ass. Nope. Not at all" Chris kept repeating to himself proving that denial was no longer just a river in Egypt

Against their expectations some of the Tok'ra hosts singing and homeworld poetry and fables were actually pretty interesting, of course most of it was so dull they were left practically catatonic. In between the performances there were long intervals that were supposed to be used to discuss the last performance but James and Chris were using them to find out about each other

Chris had learned that many of James's little quirks including that James loved swimming, kayaking and a whole host of water activities but at the same time he was terrified of drowning or being eaten by sharks making him uncomfortable in deep water

James had learned many of Chris's little quirks to including his hatred of hospitals and the inferiority complex he had with his brother

Of course the thing that they liked best about each other was that they had a mutual love of history and for most of the evening they spent an enjoyable time debating the history of the galaxy

"You really are a history buff" James exclaimed in surprise when Chris revealed that he knew the Mandalorian wars almost as well as James did. A difficult thing to do seeing as James had actually been there

"Yep the only time I'm buff is when I'm studying history" Chris replied with a laugh

"I wouldn't say that" James responded quietly with a glace at Chris's body "Sithspit did I say that out loud?" he thought to himself as he began to panic "I'm going to scare him off completely, most men don't react well to being hit on by other men"

"I must have miss heard, and miss _felt_ that" Chris thought "There is no way he is interested in me, quick change the subject" "So how much longer?" Chris asked aloud

"You know what they say" James replied relieved "It's not over till the fat lady sings"

"Is that one big enough for you?" Chris asked as a particularly large female host took the stage

James thankfully managed to activate the box's privacy field before they both collapsed in laughter

* * *

Come on guys, only one review for the last chapter. Have I scared everybody off with the lack of action lately? If so I hope that this chapter makes up for it. Please let me know if your enjoying it

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please let me know if you are enjoying it


	14. Patterns Forming

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**Cjcold2: **sorry but Optrica will not be joining the GRP. I have other plans for them. The Peacekeepers suffered dozens of casualties because I upped the battleships defences from the pitiful guards seen in the actual episode but I really had no choice. I mean what kind of idiot guards their best prototype from a gate assault with a single staff cannon and a dozen Jaffa? Even the most overconfident of the Goa'uld aren't that stupid

* * *

**Chapter 14 Patterns**** Forming**

**Sokar's Personal Chambers – Delmak**

The most feared and despicable of the Goa'uld sat in his personal chambers in silent contemplation, he had just received word of the strange people in black and red armour that destroyed his new battleship and inflicted severe losses on his Udajeet and Al-Kesh

"The timing could not be worse" Sokar thought to himself "My entire plan to defeat the System Lords rests on overwhelming them before they have a chance to organise and without the battleship this means that I have to attack as soon as possible since they are already producing new Ha'tak's as fast as they can now they have realised my numerical and slight technological advantage. These insects that have attacked me have no ability to wage true war, their attack ships pitiful performance against my Ha'tak proves it, they didn't even manage to drain the shields below 75% and they do not have fighters or bombers. No I will let their insolence go unpunished for now, I simply cannot afford to divert ships from my attack on the System Lords to look for them, nor can I inform the System Lords of their presence lest they have a technology or two that could aid them in their fight against me. I promise though, when I am ruler of the Goa'uld Empire I will hunt those insects down and blast holes in the crusts of their planets as I did Netu and they will live in hell forever for daring to attack me"

He summoned one of the minor Goa'uld to his chambers "You will take a squadron of Al-Kesh and scour the nearby systems for this new race" Sokar ordered giving him the information "When you find them do not attack but record their location and capture and torture members of their military so that I know their defences when I attack after I have dealt with the System Lords"

"Yes my lord" the Minor Goa'uld replied

If the Phantom class cruisers were the Peacekeepers best warship this would have been the correct decision, as it was Sokar had just made the biggest mistake of his life

* * *

**General Santiago's Office – **_**PKSB Isenguard**_

Corazon Santiago sighed as she read through recommendations for the troopers to replace the lost members of the Rapid Response Squad. It would have been so much simpler if they could have just sent a anti-matter bomb through, the Science Directorate was already playing around with the idea of enhancing them with naquada, unfortunately while the anti-matter powered nuclear devices were vastly powerful, fully capable of annihilating large cities in a single strike and rendering vast areas uninhabitable there was one thing that made success uncertain, the mountain. NORAD and facilities like it around the galaxy were placed under mountains because they provided the best defence against nuclear strikes, with the battleships construction facility deep inside a mountain an anti-matter bomb would most likely destroy the battleship but leave the facility relatively intact. The worst case scenario of the battleship having it's shield generators finished allowing it to survive as well ruled this out as a viable option as they only had one chance to take the battleship out

With a stargate borne bomb uncertain and an orbital bombardment by the fleet impossible a strike team had been the only way to destroy the battleship. Intellectually Corazon knew this

But it didn't make the list of names she had to replace any shorter

* * *

**The White House, Washington DC – Earth**

"I wonder what Jed Bartlett wants?" the man thought waiting to be showed into the Oval Office. Several days ago at the request of President Bartlett he had been briefed on the Stargate Project up to General Hammond's meeting with this Galactic Republic of Planets and after several days to let the information sink in he had been summoned to the White House

"Senator Arnold Vinick of California is here sir" Debbie said as President Bartlett emerged from the Oval Office

"Senator, please come in" President Bartlett said showing Senator Vinick to one of the sofas in the Oval Office

"Well Mr President what can I do for you?" Senator Vinick asked

"First I'd like you to read this, It's what we've agreed to to be allowed to trade with the Republic" President Bartlett said handing over a magnolia folder marked top secret

The socially moderate and fiscal conservative Republican Senator read the file in silence "Are you serious?" he said finally "Do you know how badly giving away this much of our national sovereignty is going to go down with Senator Kinsey and his ilk?

"Believe me I know" President Bartlett said wearily "But we can no longer simply go forth as one nation, we have to go forth as one planet if we are to survive and the Confederate Nations of Earth is the only way to do this. Besides our military and financial might will give us great sway in the Security Council and our population advantage will allow us to lead the Assembly of Nations, we may not lead unilaterally anymore but it will still be an American Hegemony"

"Which will be fine for all those educated enough to understand it but Kinsey has always appealed to the rednecks clinging to god and guns, which is why I suspect you have met with me. I've made no secret of my opposition to the Religious Right's influence over the Republican Party and you want me to help square up as many Republican supporters behind you as possible" Senator Vinick replied

"Mostly" President Bartlett admitted "but as well as that there is a another reason, our relationship with the Galactic Republic of Planets is going to define how powerful we become, whether we become their equals, their superiors or whether we remain a backwater opponent"

"And where do I come in?" Senator Vinick asked curiously

"James Koren, leader of the Republic is strictly centre stage" President Bartlett answered "With the exception of gay rights, which is understandable seeing as he is homosexual, he is further right than most Democrats and further left than most Republicans, we need our representatives to be of a similar vein"

"Which is where my moderate stance and dislike of religious influence in government comes in" Senator Vinick concluded "But how are you going to ensure that we meet?"

It is certain that the USA's Councillor on the Confederacy's Security Council will be appointed Chief Councillor of the Confederate Nations of Earth and thus the man in charge of the entire planet's interstellar foreign policy and military assets. I want you, Arnold Vinick to be that man" President Bartlett explained

Arnold Vinick was stunned into silence

* * *

**Stargate Project Facility – Optrica**

General Tria was the commanding officer of the Optrican stargate facility and she and her 2IC, Commander Osara were seated in a plush room obviously meant for entertaining dignitaries. The dignitaries in attendance at the moment were SG1 and they were listening spellbound as General Tria related the cliffnotes version of Optrican history to Daniel Jackson

"It was in this 42nd year of stalemate, just a few months ago, that a Bedrosian archaeologist, Nyan, discovered the stargate and the first visitors arrived through" General Tria said

"Wait the stargate was discovered in Bedrosia?" Major Carter asked

"Yes" Commander Osara replied "Warned by Nyan Council Master Rand retreated back through the stargate and ordered that an orbiting warship, the _PKC Starlight, _transport the stargate here to Optrica"

"Wait, Council Master Rand?" Colonel O'Neil said "Wasn't that the guy that spent the whole time at the SGC flirting with old doc Frasier?"

"Yes sir" Major Carter answered taking note of the attractive General Tria's small smile. It seemed that Master Rand was a successful lady's man "You've had trade relations with the Galactic Republic of Planets?" She asked

"Yes" General Tria responded "Though it has been limited as we have little to offer them"

"You know we have the same problem" Colonel O'Neil piped up "we could always share"

"Excuse me" Commander Osara asked confused

"We trade with the Republic for tech, then we trade the Republic tech with each other" General O'Neil explained "You know, like a buy one get one free offer on your favorate beer"

Everyone looked in shock at Colonel O'Neill, despite acting otherwise he was a very intelligent and calculating man and this was one of the times that others got a glimpse of that intelligence

"That bears a great deal of thought" General Tria responded quietly "In fact I shall inform our government of your proposal immediately, I warn you though we will expect a mutual defence pact at the very least if we consider this"

After a moment the members of SG1 recovered "So what has happened to Bedrosia now that the knowledge that their god is false has spread amongst them" Daniel asked Osara

"After the stargate was activated the more scientific among them questioned the theological governments response to the knowledge that the gateway was real and aliens existed" Osara responded "They were rounded up and executed as was anyone who attempted to protest. In response the reserve troops collapsed rushing home to protect their families and the Bedrosian front line troops were quickly overwhelmed by our troops new pulse weaponry traded for from the Republic. Many Bedrosian cities actually welcomed Optrican troops as the numbers of their own people executed for heresy entered the millions, others collapsed into anarchy where our troops had to restore order. About 18% of Bedrosia remains under the theological governments control. They have purged everyone in it, only fanatical Goa'uld worshipers live there now and without their scientists they will descend into subsistence farmers in less than three generations. The war is finally over"

The members of SG1 were not exactly sure what to make of that

* * *

**Tok'ra High Council Chambers – Vorash**

Szmanda was a member of the Tok'ra High Council who had been forced to enter a stasis jar over a hundred years ago as no host had been found for him in time. Today he was welcomed back before the council once more. Surrounded by many old friends and missing many more Szmanda thought back to the events that had brought his new host to him

Adam Herus was a tall handsome man with light blonde hair coming to just below his ears. He also had green eyes and was very well built as befitted his former profession as a fire fighter. In one of the last fires he attended he had been carrying out one of the female victims when the floor gave way dropping them both to the floor below in a mass of twisted beams, wood and metal that slashed and punctured their bodies severely. When Adam's fellow fire fighters finally rescued both him and the lady he was relieved but that did not last long. The HIV virus was believed to have mutated from a standard STD in the Bothan population, unfortunately when a Bothan female infected a human male with the original virus it mutated to HIV and its much feared end stage, AIDS and had begun a limited spread amongst the human population. The lady was HIV positive and had infected Adam when their blood mixed due to the injuries from that fateful fall. Adam had quickly developed full blown AIDS and faced a slow and lingering death as his immune system began to degenerate just as a Jaffa's would without a symbiote.

Resigned to his fate Adam was in the hospital waiting for death when Aldwin/Kal'ara and Martouf/Lantash came to visit him and offer him a new lease of life, a chance that he had jumped at

"I do not regret it" Adam thought to his new companion as he sensed Szmanda's uncertainty

"_Good" _Szmanda thought back _" I have no wish to take you against your will"_

"Both of us were dying, better that we share my body and live than both suffer and die needlessly" Adam replied as the council took their seats

"_I am __glad to be amongst so many friends once more" _Szmanda said to the council members_ "and as my first act on this council since my return I would like to reopen the proposal of Councillor Thron to expand the embassy on Kaitain to a full base holding many of our supplies and researchers" _Szmanda enjoyed the feelings of pride and thanks that Adam felt at his new companions efforts on behalf of his home civilisation

The councillors looked thoughtful. They had not intended to bring this up again so soon but given how honourable and helpful the Republic had been it was worth considering early _"I agree" _Per'sus said _"Let us now hear arguments for and against"_

"_Malek, Lantash, Aldwin and their hosts are all in agreement that the GRP is honourable and will not betray us if we are allowed to expand our embassy to a full base" _Garshaw reported

"_The embassy itself has proved more useful than we ever expected as well" _Ren'al added _"The rest and relaxation in a safe environment has had a profound effect on all Tok'ra who have stayed there, both symbiote and host. Many have reported that their physiological state has greatly improved after only a short stay, expanding the embassy to a full base would allow far more of us to benefit" _

"_We have also noted an increase in the effectiveness of operatives that have spent time on Kaitain" _Thron noted _"The rest has allowed them to become even more efficient when they return to their infiltration duties" _

"_There is still the problem of a Republic betrayal and takeover of the base" _Delek cautioned

"_I assure you Delek that the Republic would do no such thing" _Szmanda replied hotly Adam's indignance at such an accusation leaching through their bond

"_Not even if an ashrak assassinated Master Koren in our name?" _Delek replied _"Or through some other means of subterfuge turned the Republic against us? A significant portion of our resources are completely at their mercy, including many irreplaceable Tok'ra"_

"Let me speak to them" Adam requested

"_Are you sure?" _Szmanda asked _"Some of their questions may be upsetting and I do not think that a fiery response is the best way to handle the council"_

"Trust me" Adam said simply

Szmanda bowed his head then looked up letting the entire council know that it was now Adam who spoke

"I do not deny the risks that Delek points out" Adam began "but they can be minimized by simple procedures such as not allowing more than three members of the High Council to be on Kaitain at any one time. The benefits of the base far outweigh the risks and with all of your knowledge and experience I'm sure that you can come up with several escape plans that could be implemented at a moments notice should something go wrong"

"_Nicely done with the flattery at the end my love" _Szmanda said as he assumed control again _"It will cause them to rise to the challenge you have set and then their will be no reason not to proceed" _

"Thank you" Adam thought back "I do know a little about how to turn a meeting the way I want. You know that's the first time you've called me my love?"

"_I apologize… the stress of the meeting" _Szmanda franticly began to backpedal worried that he was pushing his new host to fast

"Don't be" Adam replied "I kinda like it, we are after all closer than lovers now… my love"

Both basked in the feelings of acceptance and affection coming from the other as the council began to design escape attempts from the proposed base should the worst happen, they didn't notice that they had not actually agreed to build said base until much later at which point they all realised, with more than a little embarrassment, that Szmanda had chosen very well. Adam was going to fit right in

* * *

_**PKSB Isenguard**_, **Kaitain – The next day**

Elizabeth Weir, Richard Wolsey and Janet Frasier emerged from the stargate into a gate room that was as elegant as it was deadly. Heavy weapon emplacements could be seen in the walls as well as firing slits from bunkers as well. There was only one way out, down the ramp and directly ahead through doors large enough to admit Raptors and Turtles and sturdy enough to survive assaults by the same. Elizabeth was surprised that the colour scheme was white and silver but she supposed it made a better impression than the military black and red

The three Tau'ri visitors walked down the ramp and down the centre of an honour guard of black and red armoured troopers to stop before the white and gold clothed Council Master Atton Rand

"Welcome to Kaitain Dr Weir, Mr Wolsey and the ever enchanting Dr Frasier" Atton said shaking hands with Dr Weir and Mr Wolsey before kissing the hand of Dr Frasier in the style of the old aristocrats causing the good Dr to flush the same shade as her hair

"You will meet with Grand Master Koren, General Santiago and Admiral Jha'dur at midday tomorrow, baring any unforeseen crisis of course" Atton began as he lead them out of the gate room and down a traditional Peacekeeper octagon shaped corridor "until then you are free to move around Lothlorien City. Will you be staying with your Tok'ra allies in their embassy or would you prefer the diplomatic suite at the Hotel Majestic?"

"I think we would prefer the Hotel Majestic" Dr Weir replied thinking how strained the Tau'ri/Tok'ra alliance had been recently. The ceremony to formalise the alliance was still on but that may end up being all the alliance was, a ceremony "Of course I can't blame them" Elizabeth thought her diplomatic training allowing her to see the Tok'ra side "With no new hosts and a very xenophobic, if completely understandable, attitude from the Tau'ri their alliance with the Republic is simply more valuable to them. I only hope that our negotiations turn out as well as the Tok'ra's did"

"These three knights are your guards and companions whilst you are here" Atton said entering a meeting room containing three Astarii who's tunics had sapphire embroidery "They will remain with you at all times when you leave the diplomatic suite at Hotel Majestic. The suite itself is set up to receive secure communications from the stargate should you need to communicate with the Tau'ri security council and Chief Councillor Vinick"

"And you haven't bugged it in the slightest, scouts honour" Richard Wolsey said with a smile. He had been a corporate lawyer for several years and though he wasn't quite as experienced with the negotiating side of things as Elizabeth Weir was he was far from naïve

Atton simply smiled not insulting them by denying it. It was the way that the game was played after all

"Shall we head down to the planet then?" He asked indicating the door

"By all means" Dr Weir replied following one of the guards

"How is the distribution of the cancer cure coming?" Atton asked Dr Frasier as they fell in beside each other

"Very well thank you" she replied "We've set up a new company, SG Pharmaceuticals with Dr's with the proper security clearance and a CEO that knows it's in his best interests to cooperate. There should be enough background research fabricated by now to allow the drug to move forward to human trials, we expect approval and mass distribution by the end of the year"

"and as far as anyone knows it was the reclusive doctors of SG Pharmaceuticals who created this drug in their hidden laboratory to hide it from industrial competitors, masterfully played" Atton replied

"Thank you. Oh by the way I believe that someone owes me dinner" Dr Frasier said playfully with a coy smile

"What?" Atton asked nearly stopping in his tracks

"Oh you don't remember?" Dr Frasier flirted "You promised me dinner and a medial tour if I didn't give you a prostate exam"

"Well I am always looking for an excuse to date a pretty lady" Atton flirted

"It wont be a date like your used to" Dr Frasier warned "There will be, under no circumstances, sex for you at the end of the evening. Still want to go?"

Normally Atton would have politely declined after such a statement but for some reason he felt drawn to the diminutive Dr "Yeh" he replied "actually I do"

The surprise on Dr Frasier's face showed she had not been expecting that answer, perhaps she had misjudged Atton Rand

* * *

_**PKSB Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

"Welcome Martouf and Lantash" James Koren said as the Tok'ra ambassador entered his office "and what can I do for you?"

"_The Tok'ra High Council wishes to upgrade our embassy to full support base status" _Lantash reported

"Simple and to the point, if only all my meetings were like this" James said with a smile as he motioned Martouf over to the chairs in the corner of his office in front of the viewport "Wine?" he asked going to the cabinet

"_Please" _Lantash replied accepting a glass _"It reminds Martouf of a wine from his homeworld"_

"Well then his people had good taste" James replied "Now what does this upgrade to support base involve?"

"_We would quadruple the population of the embassy, use it to store and manufacture many different supplies, conduct our most sensitive research there and rotate many Tok'ra operatives in dire need of a rest through the base_" Lantash elaborated

James sat back in the chair thinking hard "You are asking me to allow a fully functioning base of a foreign power on the capitol of the Republic in the milky way galaxy" he mused "a fact that will only increase our priority on the Goa'uld 'to kill' list and may damage our relationships with other powers such as the Tau'ri as they rightly assume that you are getting special treatment"

"_The Tok'ra are willing to offer compensation to offset such disadvantages" _Lantash replied knowing that since James had not rejected the proposal by now then he was going to accept it and they were just haggling over price

"One of the major goodies that Wyatt brought back from the battleship mission was a Goa'uld control crystal writer" James began slowly watching Lantash's reaction "We can create the crystals ourselves but we need someone to teach us how to use the device to encode our own operating systems onto the crystals"

"_Replacing your current computer technology with control crystals will allow for great miniaturisation or for much more complicated programs to be run much faster by computers that take up the same amount of space" _Lantash replied_ "A feature that would be most useful on your warships allowing for more accurate sensors, targeting programs and all manner of interesting things. In light of this the Tok'ra have a counter proposal"_

James inclined his head indicating an acceptance of Lantash's point and an invitation to continue

"_As well as the new base the Tok'ra will set up a factory to produce ring transporters" _Lantash proposed_ "The Republic will then buy their ring transporters form us rather than steal them giving the Tok'ra a Kaitain based income to spend on more supplies, quite a lot of them from Kaitain" _

"A factory will mean a more steady supply of ring transporters" James thought to himself "and it means that we could install them in the cities and starbases as transportation hubs for distances to far to walk. Most of the money we pay the Tok'ra will be ploughed back into our economy at grass roots level when they purchase supplies and it will tie our two powers even closer together building trust and goodwill and we will still get an understanding of crystal based computers allowing all areas of our society to become far more efficient"

"Very well Lantash" he said aloud "The Republic agrees to the Tok'ra proposal"

Two wine glasses clinked together to seal the deal that would bind the Tok'ra and GRP still closer together, they were unified in the fight against the Goa'uld, but the internal factions of the free races of the Milky Way were already beginning to take shape

* * *

Cjcold2 deserves credit for the Tok'ra ring transport factory idea. An excellent angle that I had not considered, thank you for the idea.

The anti-matter bomb is one of the 4 WMD style bombs the starwars . wikia . com lists and is the most powerful of the 2 that the Republic would use. The other two are Goa'uld or Aschen style weapons produced by the Galactic Empire

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	15. Brothers, Friends and Hammerheads

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**DROIDS: **With none of the founding races of the GRP using droids they analysed the new models and found that they were dangerously close to sentience and so using them would break the no slavery condition of the Declaration of Principles, as such the GRP does not use droids. The rest of the galaxy (based on a George Lucas interview) uses the obviously intelligent droids as slave labour because they believe they have no soul. A soul is a very relative term, whites used to believe that Blacks were little more than animals with no soul and we all know that that is completely untrue in every way. As such I don't think that the Eidelons would have allowed the intelligent droids like C3PO and R2D2 as they were basically slaves, the other founding members would have most likely gone along with it as it's easy to ban something if you have never had it.

**NOTE: **The shipyards in the Kaitain system are known as the Kaitain shipyards to outsiders due to the system they are in but as the Ixan shipyards to the Republic due to the planet they orbit

**NOTE:** Chris Halliwell's sense of humour and voice (referred to later in the chapter) is best shown here http: //www . youtube . com /watch? v=AfmScD5LN4c &feature =related in the 'Funny Chris Quotes from Charmed' video. The best moments are at 1:18 and 1:44

* * *

**Chapter 15 – Brothers, Friends and Hammerheads**

**Wyatt Halliwell's Apartment, Miranda City – Kaitain**

Christopher Halliwell parked his air speeder and let himself into his elder brothers apartment. The _PKC Inquisitor _had limped back to the Ixian Shipyards arriving that morning and the crew and rescued members of the Rapid Response Squad had spent the rest of the day aboard _PKSB Isenguard _being debriefed before being released. It was now 02:30 in the morning which Chris hoped meant that Wyatt would have made it home from the clubs he undoubtedly would have gone to with the other troopers in celebration of their actually being alive

Chris walked though the apartment not hearing any evidence if his brother, deciding to check if he was asleep already he put his head around the bedroom door and promptly reeled back against the wall

"Okay, I did not need to see that!" he thought to himself as he headed to the kitchen. The sound suppression field on the bedroom had been activated which was a good thing given how much noise Wyatt was probably making sandwiched between the two pretty blonde girls that were in there with him

"Gotta give him credit for the threesome though, and for bedding yoga instructors given how flexible they have to be to have attained that position" Chris thought with a smile looking forward to teasing his elder brother mercilessly about this. He grabbed a bottle of cider that Wyatt kept especially for him from the refrigerator and settled down to wait

It was almost two hours until a naked Wyatt left the bedroom and entered the kitchen intending to get a beer from the refrigerator

"Nice butt bro"

"AAAHHHHHH!" Wyatt screamed in surprise leaping round to face a smirking Chris sitting on the edge of the kitchen table

"CHRISTOPHER PERRY HALLIWELL YOU BASTARD!!!!!" Wyatt shouted as he ran back to his bedroom to find something to wear leaving Chris laughing hysterically behind him

Having put some clothes on Wyatt walked attentively back into the kitchen "I don't suppose there's any point asking you to be merciful and never mention this again?" he asked resignedly

"Wyatt you know me" Chris replied with a smirk "You could fit my capacity for mercy in a matchbox, without taking out the matches first"

Wyatt groaned and braced himself for a month of threesome jokes as he grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and passed another cider to Chris before grabbing one of the chairs and spinning it round so he could lean forward on the back

"So where'd you find them?" Chris asked

"A club just outside _Victory at Corellia _spaceport" Wyatt replied with a wolfish grin "They both wanted to sleep with the great Colonel Halliwell and who was I to crush their dreams?"

"Wyatt you are a total man whore" Chris groaned

"Oh yeh" Wyatt agreed with a wink causing them both to laugh before lapsing into companionable silence

"I'm glad you made it" Chris said after a while spent in silence "I read General Santiago's report, I know how close it was"

Wyatt winced "Yeah" he replied softly "I thought we were done for until _Inquisitor _ringed down to pick us up but we made it out in the end"

"This time" Chris said quietly

Wyatt got up and pulled his baby brother into a bone crushing hug "I'll never leave you willingly baby brother" he whispered "I'll always do my best to come back"

"So will I" Chris whispered back hugging Wyatt just as tightly

"With any luck you'll never be in danger" Watt thought to himself "So what's up?" he asked aloud trying to break the depression both of them were feeling at Wyatt's first near death mission

"I've done something really stupid Wy" Chris said in despair sitting back in the table and swinging his legs just like when he was a child

"What?" Wyatt asked carefully, Chris sitting swinging his legs was his tell that the was very conflicted, just as pacing was Wyatt's tell

"I've fallen for Master Koren" his bother replied

"Oh boy" Wyatt breathed "you really do pick 'em don't you Chrissie"

Chris glared at his brother for using his pet name for him. He hated it just as much as Wyatt hated Wy "That's not helping" he snapped as Wyatt sat down beside him and put his arm around Chris's shoulders

"Hey, do you like him?" Wyatt asked

Chris nodded

"Do you like him a lot?"

Chris nodded again

"Then go for it" Wyatt said looking into his brothers intense emerald eyes "'cause if you don't you'll regret it for ever"

"But what if he rejects me?" Chris whispered his insecurity showing though

"Then he isn't nearly as smart as people say his is" Wyatt replied pulling Chris into a hug "Because there's no one more loyal, more beautiful or more loving than my baby brother. Whomever you end up with is going to be the luckiest man alive"

As Chris took comfort from his elder brothers embrace Wyatt felt grateful that he had a chance to show Chris a tiny portion of the support and love that Chris had given him

* * *

**Hotel Majestic, Lothlorien City – Kaitain**

As Dr Janet Frasier headed towards the door to her suite she swore to do considerable bodily harm to whomever had dared to wake her up at this ungodly hour

"Morning sugar" Atton Rand said as she opened the door

Dr Frasier resisted the urge to strangle him "Atton it is 6:30 in the morning" she managed to say through gritted teeth

"Exactly!" Atton exclaimed "the perfect time for a breakfast date"

Dr Frasier slammed the door in his face and headed back to bed. She made it halfway across the room before sighing and heading back to the door. She opened it to find Atton with a heartbroken expression on his face "There had better be coffee" she said ominously

Atton beamed as she closed the door again and headed for the shower to get ready

An hour and a half later Janet Frasier reluctantly conceded that the view of the triple sunrise over Lothlorien City was worth the early start "It's beautiful" she whispered the from the viewing platform of the cloudbase restaurant, only Citadel Tower was higher and below the rain crystal viewport the entire city's soaring towers glittered blue and gold whilst above the blue, purple and gold light of the three suns competed across the sky

"Yes" Atton replied coming up to embrace her from behind "But it pales in comparison to you"

Deciding to take a risk, and secretly enjoying the flattery no matter how badly delivered, Janet Frasier turned around and pulled her taller date down until their lips met in a kiss

Atton decided that he could get used to dating

* * *

**James Koren's Manor House****, Lothlorien City – Kaitain**

Set on the outskirts of Lothlorien City on the grassy plains the large house/small manor James Koren had built was large and done in a style that the Tau'ri would recognise as British Imperial, polished stone, thick carpets and wood panelling was everywhere. James had designed it himself, with some help from professional architects, as he greatly enjoyed creating things and he had more than enough money to indulge himself seeing as his salary had been accumulating for the last 4,000 years

"Morning" Atton said as he bustled through the dining room and into the kitchen

Used to this James didn't even look up from his morning newspaper Republic Today "Are you out of food again Atton or can you just not be bothered to cook" he said absent mindedly

"That is completely unfair! You think all I do is sponge off you" Atton exclaimed from the kitchen "And your out of beer"

James stifled a laugh. Both of them enjoyed having breakfast together but the friendly banter was part of what made it fun "Well don't look at me, I hate the stuff" James replied as Atton entered the dining room having located something edible

"How you can stand wine and cider and yet hate the most delicious form of alcohol I'll never know" Atton teased as he sat down with a coffee

James put his newspaper down "Atton your glowing. Give." He said with a smirk

Atton recounted his date with Dr Frasier to his enthralled audience "I think I'm falling for her" he concluded with a wistful sigh

"I think you already have" James said with a smile happy for his friend

Atton noticed that the smile didn't quite reach James's eyes, then he noticed that James was fiddling with his leather bracelets, his tell that he was conflicted

"What's up?" he asked quietly

"What makes you think that anything's up?" James asked side stepping the question

"'Cause I know you, you may be able to avoid others questions but we are best friends, you cant hide from me" Atton replied calmly

"I've fallen for someone who's beautiful and loyal, someone who's more sarcastic and humorous than even me and someone who has the most amazing soft, delicate voice that I just love listening to" James sighed

"So what's the problem" Atton asked, pleased beyond measure that his best friend was willing to entertain romantic notions about someone else again even if his plan to set him up with the Tok'ra ambassador had failed

"He's my Chief of Staff" James despaired with a self deprecating smile

"Ouch" Atton concluded with a grimace

"Yep" James concluded "He's my direct subordinate and he's 12 years younger than me" *

"Well you can't make the first move" Atton said "Chris would feel pressured and worry about being fired if he says no"

"Yeh I know" James whispered grabbing his orange juice

"That doesn't mean that you cant respond if he decides to flirt with you or ask you out" Atton continued

James's head snapped up

"He's younger than you and your subordinate so you can't pressure him" Atton reiterated knowing that his friend never would "But equally he's a consenting adult and If he decides he's ready then you can't hold him back because you think he's not"

"Thanks" James said with a smile

"Hey what are friends for" Atton replied trying to lighten the mood "So have I earned a restocking of you beer supply yet?"

"Atton, don't ever change" James laughed

* * *

**Citadel Tower, Kaitain Sector Citadel – Kaitain**

The buildings were metallic and geometrically shaped in a adaptation of Alteran architecture with the colour scheme changed from grey and copper to blue and gold. Like the Tok'ra before them the Tau'ri delegation had been suitably impressed as they were brought to the central tower of the snowflake shaped citadel. Stopping before a large pair of deep blue doors inscribed with the Declaration of Principles in gold script Dr Weir took a moment to read them again before Atton Rand looked at her companions and lead them into the cathedral like room beyond

**The Declaration of Principles**

We the people of the Galactic Republic of Planets do solemnly swear that we will uphold the principals of this declaration

_We will uphold the principle that no race that faces slavery or extinction shall stand alone_

_We will uphold the principle that all races are equal_

_We will uphold the principle that all are equal before the law_

_We will uphold the principle that we will speak for those that cannot speak for themselves_

_We will uphold the principle that we will defend those who cannot defend themselves_

_We will uphold the principle that the Republic governs for the good of all_

_We will uphold the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all_

_We will uphold the principle that we will protect the innocent_

_We will uphold the principle that power is invested in the many, so that it may never be seized by one_

_We will uphold the principle that we speak with one voice_

These are the principles of the Galactic Republic of Planets and we shall uphold them as long as we live

**

Atton waited until she had finished reading before ordering the doors opened. The room was obviously multi purpose, on a raised dais at the opposite end a table had been set before a set of large stained glass windows which had a blue star field enclosed by two silver olive branches in the centre of a black and gold circle "It is the Great Seal of the Republic" Atton explained to the three after catching Dr Frasier's questioning glance "The star field is the galaxy, olive branches are the symbol of peace and the black and gold circle is an adaptation of one of the martial societies symbols showing that while we wish for peace we will always be prepared for war" ***

Dr Weir was a little put off by that believing that military was an unfortunate necessity and should not be glorified but Mr Wolsey and Dr Frasier both nodded approvingly, both understood that no matter what your own beliefs someone will try to take what you have unless they can see that you are prepared to fight for it, and win. Only those who prepare for war may truly live in peace was unofficially known as the 11th principle

As they took their places at the table Dr Weir, Mr Wolsey and Dr Frasier were present on one side, James Koren, Jha'dur and Corazon Santiago on the other. Atton Rand bowed before leaving the room to take command of the expedition whilst the negotiations were underway

"The Republic welcomes the representatives of the Confederate Nations of Earth and is willing to hear their proposal" Grand Master Koren said to begin the meeting

"The Confederacy welcomes the chance to meet with the Republic" Dr Weir said diplomatically "We wish to trade technology"

"If we trade you any technology" Admiral Jha'dur replied "Then you will be forbidden to trade it with anyone we do not approve of"

"How do we know whether you approve or not" Mr Wolsey asked trying to find some way around the condition so that they could trade with Optrica

"If we have traded with them ourselves that is the sign our approval" General Santiago responded "Otherwise you will simply have to ask"

"We agree" Dr Weir said knowing that the Republic had traded with Optrica making Colonel O'Neill's proposal viable. The Republic obviously didn't know that Optrica and Earth had met "However we may have to trade some small amounts of technology to countries not in the CNE"

"That is something that we would be very unhappy about" General Santiago replied "Why would you do this?"

"The middle eastern countries control the majority of Earth's petroleum and gas resources" Dr Weir explained "With out them our society will be thrown into chaos and they are sure to cut off all oil and gas exports if we do not trade technology with them" she held her breath. This was a dangerous gamble, the Republic could refuse to trade rather than allow any tech to fall into the hands of countries like Iran but she was betting on them giving tech to make the threat of oil and gas embargo's redundant in return for a grantee that the tech would not be shared to anyone other than CNE member states. Since the US didn't want those states to have the tech either then they would essentially get technology for free

"Oh she's good" Grand Master Koren thought to himself "She's backed me into a corner on this issue already, that is one formidable woman" "Very well. The Republic will give you several Nuclear Fusion power stations and the know how to build more. We will also give you the technology to convert you automobiles to run on hydrogen fuel cells and the technology to manufacture, transport and store liquid hydrogen safely and cheaply"

And just like that the oil and gas reliance of the world was ended and the days of oil producing nations oppressing their people, executing their women for adultery and executing their children by the hundreds for minor crimes whilst safe from recrimination because of their precious oil reserves ended to

Elizabeth Weir sighed in relief. Whatever else happened the serious threat of Islamic fundamentalism was going to be weakened by this, with no one to buy masses of oil the fundamentalist countries would have no funds to divert to terrorist groups. Sure the world still needed oil and gas for other things such as the manufacture of plastics and cooking but with the massive drains of gas power stations and petrol for cars and trucks removed Russia, South America and the other oil producing regions could more than cover the worlds needs. And as a little bonus the CO2 emissions of the developed countries would plunge through the floor appeasing the environmental lobby as well

"We would also like to trade intelligence" Mr Wolsey stated "Our intelligence on the various civilisations and the original cultures that they came from in return for your intelligence on the Goa'uld"

"A limited trade perhaps" Admiral Jha'dur said "such an offer will have to be discussed in much more detail"

Mr Wolsey nodded his assent knowing that it would be his responsibility as ambassador to conduct the more in depth talks later

"We also wish to trade medical technology and drugs" Dr Frasier said "There are many unique to Earth that you may have a use for and vice versa"

"We agree to this whole heartedly" Grand Master Koren said "But such negotiations are best conducted by the Master Healer and the Surgeon General

Dr Frasier acknowledged gracefully looking forward to the many medical advances that they would hopefully be able to trade for

"That leaves us with military technology" Dr Weir said "We wish to purchase Firestorm, Icestorm and Hurricane class warships as well as Tsunami and Tornado fighters and Howitzer bombers"

"This is unfortunately unacceptable to the Republic" Grand Master Koren replied seeing the look of disappointment and regret on the faces of the Tau'ri delegation "However we are willing to trade other warships"

Their heads snapped back up, the orders from Chief Councillor Vinick had been explicit. Get any spaceships possible even if they're old cargo ships, we can refit them later but we have to have them first

Grand Master Koren reached forward and activated the holo projector in the centre of the table causing a hologram of a cruiser with two escorts to appear "This is a Hammerhead class cruiser and its two Foray class escorts, they served the Old Republic faithfully for several thousand years and we have updated them completely redesigning them to modern standards, we are prepared to order the construction of 9 Hammerheads and 18 Forays, a cruiser and two escorts for each CNE nation, to tide you over whilst you create your own ship designs. We are also willing to sell you an outpost scale shipyard to place in orbit of one of Sol systems planets so that you can eventually construct your own warships and send our chief warship designer, Alaya Secura, to assist you with your own warship design "

"How do the Hammerheads and Forays compare to your warships?" Mr Wolsey questioned as soon as the shock wore off

"The Hammerheads and Forays will be armoured with a material of 4 parts trinium to 1 part carbon and 1 part collapsed-core molybdenum which is approximately 1/2 as durable as our own armour but far more durable than any used by the Goa'uld" **** Admiral Jha'dur explained "They will also be equipped with top of the range sublight and hyperspace engines and armed with standard turbolasers that fire 3 times slower than our own, however they are twice as powerful, the Hammerheads will also be equipped with two double barrelled super heavy turbolasers, one of our attempts at hybridising Goa'uld weaponry with our own" she waved her hand and the hologram changed to show a profile of the warships and their stats

**Hammerhead Cruiser: **600m long by 250m wide and 250m high (widest and tallest points) 2 Super Heavy Turbolasers, 30 Turbolasers, 20 Flak Guns, one fighter squadron, 600 crew, 50 marines

**Foray Destroyer****: **300m long by 50m high and 150m wide (widest point) 12 Turbolasers, 20 Flak guns, 200 crew, 20 marines

"What do you want in return?" Dr Weir asked warily 27 warships, a shipyard and help designing their own warships was going to cost a lot of that she was certain

"In return" Grand Master Koren began "You will allow Republic companies to trade with your own through dummy corporations under CNE control with no tariffs or protectionist legislation restricting them, after disclosure Republic companies will be allowed to open offices on Earth in any CNE member state they wish and all CNE government cargo is to be carried by one of three Republic Companies, Intersun, White Star, or Colonial Movers for the next 100 years

Dr Weir inwardly winced, it was demand that would give the GRP a firm foothold in Earth's economy and give their own companies lucrative contracts whilst Earths had to start from the ground up. On the other hand they were providing a lot of material and giving Earth everything she needed to construct her own warships with the exception of collapsed-core molybdenum. That was a state secret and they would still need to purchase it from the Republic if they wished to use it in their armour alloy

"Provisionally Earth agrees to this deal. It will have to be ratified by the Security Council" Dr Weir said slowly fully aware she couldn't turn such an offer down "You are of course aware that revealing the stargate will have to wait several years if we want the public to accept it"

"Have you thought of breaking the news down" Admiral Jha'dur inquired "Letting the public know that aliens exist before revealing the existence of the Stargate and the Goa'uld?"

"We have" Dr Weir conceded "But we cannot reveal one without the other. There is simply no plausible way we could pull it off with the proof standing up to scrutiny without revealing the stargate"

The three citizens of the Republic looked at each other "I'm sure we can arrange for an abandoned Vasudan cargo ship to crash on Earth" James said thoughtfully "Perhaps with a history book in the commanders cabin, that would allow Earth time to adjust before revealing the stargate"

"Perhaps, we will take it under advisement" Mr Wolsey said diplomatically, clearly intending to do no such thing

"We recognise it is a large, dangerous and terrifying step for you" General Santiago replied "But consider this. Even with the most advanced computers and far more automation than our regular warships the Hammerheads require a crew of 600 not including marines for security, the Forays 200. Even for just the fleet we're giving you your still going to need a minimum of 9,000 sailors just to crew the warships not to mention the shipyard and other commitments

The three Tau'ri representatives were left stunned, they had been so focused on attaining technology that they had never thought about the problems of using it, these were not single aircraft the were warships in every sense of the word just like the navy's carrier groups. They had avoided the problems of failure, but it appeared success had problems all of it's own

* * *

Links and descriptions of the Hammerheads and Forays have been added to my profile

*Remember that Republic humans live to 200 years old rather than our 80. A 12 year age difference to them would be a 6 year age difference to us. Not to large but enough to cause caution, especially if the two lovers are in their 20s and 30s

** The new principle _We will uphold the principle that power is invested in the many, so that it may never be seized by one_ can be assumed to have been added to the declaration after it was observed how Palpatine destroyed the Republic. The Constitution can be amended and the Declaration of Principles can be added to but no principle can ever be removed from the declaration. _We will uphold the principle that we will protect the innocent _is a much better rewording of _We will uphold the principle that the strong will not be allowed to oppress the weak _because when re writing it here I realised that the original one didn't read very well at all.

*** It's the symbol on my profile

***** collapsed-core molybdenum armour is 4 times as durable as standard star wars amour and twice as durable as the naquada/trinium/carbon the Asgard use for the hulls of their O'Neill battle cruisers. The trinium/carbon/collapsed-core molybdenum alloy used for the Tau'ri warships is the same durability as the Asgard material

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	16. All Change

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**THE FLEET: **After many suggestions about how the Peacekeeper Armada could not be upgraded fully no matter how modular the design I have decided to go along with a complete redesign of Peacekeeper warships to incorporate the new technologies from the start. The design and construction will take along time though. If you have a ship you would like me to use as one of the new warships send me a link or pic and I will consider it. Names for the new classes will also be considered

**NOTE: **I've added the Astarii armour and weapons links to my profile. I'd recommend looking at them, the moders that created them have to be praised for creating such cool designs

* * *

**Chapter 16 – All Change**

**Abydonian City – Abydos**

Dr Daniel Jackson was currently the happiest man in the universe. He had finally managed to get some time off from the SGC and was spending it with his newly liberated wife Sha're and their son Shifu. As the child of two Goa'uld Shifu had their genetic memory but it had thankfully been suppressed by an ascended being, Oma Desala, leaving him a normal, if quick learning and surprisingly quiet, child. In their section of the city Daniel sat quietly watching his son sleep, his wife came up behind him snaking her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder

"He is beautiful is he not Daniel" she sighed

"He is" Daniel replied, some men would be resentful that Shifu was actually genetically the child of Sha're and the host of the Goa'uld Apophis but Daniel was not so petty as to think that those who create a child are it's parents. The parents of a child are those who love and care for it and help it to grow into it's own independent adult, having gone through the foster care system and seen many happy adoptions even if he never experienced one himself Daniel Jackson understood that better than anyone "My beautiful Shifu, my son" he whispered reaching out to clear Shifu's hair away from his face, seeking physical contact as if to assure himself that this wasn't a dream. That he finally had everything he'd ever wished for, a wife and a son, a family

That was obviously the right answer as Sha're rewarded him with a kiss and led him to their bed to celebrate their reunion once more

* * *

**MW359,724**

Atton Rand exited the stargate along with the rest of IS1 to explore the next world on the exploration list. Having received the Tok'ra intelligence the gate list had been reordered to prioritise the worlds that the Goa'uld had abandoned which, since they were serial litterers, should have technology that could be retrieved and studied. This current planet was once part of the domain of the System Lord Ares, a mid level System Lord whom while not being one of the major players still commanded a respectable domain and army though his fleet was somewhat lacking. The natives had apparently remembered what the Stargate was for and the problems that it had caused in the past as a crossbow bolt flew through the air at Mira who brought her hand up and deflected it at the last minuet, Brianna unleashed a force push sending the offending guard flying whilst Mical slipped into force sight and saw two other bright life forces hiding in the long grass. Using hand signals he gave their positions to Bao Dur and Mira and both cast a stasis field before sunning them with their pulse pistols as Brianna did the same to the one she had sent flying

"Well that was an unusually warm welcome" Atton commented as Mical dialled the gate to send the Recon Rover back to _Isenguard _"Any idea why the Recon Rover didn't pick them up?"

"They were probably placed as guards when they noticed that the stargate had been activated" Mira shrugged "pure luck on their part"

"They were not soldiers by any means" Brianna commented with contempt "Anyone with experience would have fired in volleys trying to take down as many of us as possible whilst they had the element of surprise. They probably don't have a standing army if this is what they send to guard something as important as the stargate"

"Primitive rope powered crossbows as well" Bao Dur spoke up looking at their weapons "Nothing to dangerous, the personal shields I designed for all of us should take several dozen hits at least"

Atton nodded filing that information away and planning accordingly "Well lets get moving and explore the local settlements, if we find evidence of Goa'uld tech we can order the fleet to do a full orbital survey of the planet. Keep your eyes sharp and pay attention to your senses, even the weakest opponent can be deadly in large numbers"

"Well lets use the force camouflage ability then" Mira suggested "It's as good as a stealth field unless you draw attention to yourself or someone actually knows your there"

Atton nodded as they headed out to explore drawing the force around themselves like a cloak to hide themselves from prying eyes

* * *

**Republic Naquada Mine – Abydos**

"It is good of you to inspect the mine good son" Kasuf said to Daniel as he crested the sand dune to see the massive open cast naquada pits where the Abydonians had toiled for thousands of years mining the precious mineral for the Supreme System Lord Ra

"It is the least I can do good father" Daniel replied as they headed towards what appeared to be the command post for the mining efforts "This is my home now, where my wife and son are" "not least because the remnants of the NID would never stop hunting either of them if they tried to live on Earth" Daniel thought but decided to keep that to himself

"It pleases me that you do not hold my daughters time as demon possessed against her" Kasuf said "and that you accept her child so readily, many men would not do the same"

"Good father I love Sha're and Shifu and that will never change" Daniel replied with conviction

Kasuf nodded satisfied and very pleased. When he had presented his daughter to the strange man who wore the eye of Ra around his neck nearly four years ago he hoped that she would be treated well. Now he knew that if he had searched for a hundred years he would never have found a better match for her "Will you be staying here permanently now good son?" he asked his son in law

"I will be spending all of my time here when I am not at the SGC" Daniel replied "I have already sold my Earth apartment, though I think I now qualify as the most long distance commuter in the history of mankind" he finished with a smirk "Never mind" he told Kasuf seeing his confused look

"I see. Can you not be persuaded to stay permanently good son?" Kasuf asked hopefully. As well as being an excellent son in law Kasuf could not think of a better man to replace him as Chief Elder of the Abydonians when the time came for him to make his final journey now that his son Skaara was possessed by the demon Klorel, a fact that still caused him great pain

"Good father I would not be the man that I am if I gave up the fight against the demons whilst they still enslave, possess, torture and kill the humans of the galaxy" Daniel replied "And I still wish to return my good fathers other son and my wife's brother home to his family"

"You have already done more than could have been asked good son" Kasuf said as they approached the pavilion that served better than a building in the heat of Abydos "I will be forever grateful if you can return Skaara to us but do not forget that you are a part of this family as well. I refuse to loose one son to gain the return of another"

"I understand good father" Daniel replied inwardly pleased at how much Kasuf thought of him

"Honourable Elder Kasuf, Dr Daniel Jackson" a pink skinned Twi'lek translated for the Sullustrian mine foreman "How can the Abydos Naquada Mine be of service to you today?"

* * *

_**PKSB Defiance of the Night – **_**James Koren's Office**

"Admiral Jha'dur and Director Sanders are here to see you sir" Chris said as he removed the last of the completed paperwork from James's desk and noted which ones he would have to take care of personally given how stubborn their intended recipients could be

"Thank you Chris" James replied "Show them in"

Chris nodded and headed to the door allowing the chief naval and science officers to enter "Grand Master" they both said bowing before taking seats in front of James's desk as Chris returned to stand behind and to the right of the seated Grand Master

"Well what do you have for me?" James asked when they were both seated

"As you know one of the problems for us is how badly we are outnumbered by the Goa'uld" Admiral Jha'dur began recapping so that everyone was on the same page "It has stopped us from colonising other star systems for starters to say nothing about how we would be overwhelmed in open war. The main problem is not producing ships as the Ixian shipyards could produce the upgraded ships very quickly but rather the crew to man them as given our shunning of droids Peacekeeper warships are the most crew intensive in two galaxies"

The others nodded at her summary, a Firestorm needed a crew of 10,000 to function which was a large problem, whilst technically an Imperial II Star Destroyer needed a crew of 37,000 it could actually function perfectly well with only 5,000 crew unlike the Firestorm that could not function fully as soon as it lost more than a few hundred crew members

"The new control crystal technology has been a gift from the force" Director Sanders took over "Rather than program in better and more complex operating systems we have instead used the vastly increased computer capacity to produce a system that allows for a lot more automation on our warships"

"It allows us to decrease the crew requirements of all warships by a factor of six, more or less" Admiral Jha'dur concluded "A Firestorms 10,000 crew compliment becomes 1,650"

"We can field a fleet six times the size of our current one without needing training any more Peacekeepers?" James asked stunned

"It certainly fixes our garrison problem" Greg Sanders put in

"We would have to reduce the space marine compliment as well to spread them around the new warships but with the vastly reduced crew boarded compartments and corridors can be more easily vented to space leaving the reduced space marine compliment a minimal trade off in regards to security against boarders" Admiral Jha'dur observed

"Indeed" James mused "Please transfer the designs to Ix immediately, they will need to start the construction of new warships and modifying our current ones as soon as possible"

"At once Grand Master" they both said departing the office

"Were you checking out Greg's arse?" James asked stunned as he turned round to catch Chris doing exactly that, just as Chris had intended

"Oh yeh, who wouldn't want a piece of that bubble butt?" Chris replied repeating the line Wyatt had given him and hoping that it made it clear to James that he was both A.) gay and B.) single and looking for a lover "I guess you will want me to go to Ix and impress upon the shipyards the importance of their new instructions?"

James was still stunned but rallied quickly "Errrm yes, and order them to create four colony ships as well, millions of refugees from the war came through the supergate upon it's last activation. We have more than enough people to colonise four new systems, and it saves us crowding them onto Kaitain or Ix"

"Alright" Chris confirmed bringing out his pad "Which systems are they intended for?"

"Penzance, Truro, Perth and Sodor" James replied "The four closest ones that have planets in the life zone that are between us and the galactic rim. I don't want to tempt fate by expanding towards the Goa'uld just yet"

"I'll get right on it" Chris replied, as he left the room he turned his head slightly so he could see James in his peripheral vision, or more accurately see James checking out his arse in his peripheral vision. As Chris headed for the new ring room so that he could ring directly to Ix rather than suffer a tedious shuttle ride he typed out a message to Wyatt and then transported with a smug grin on his face

"_Phase 1 complete Wy, sorry I doubted you. Judging by the look on his face I'd say he's defiantly interested in my body at least. Gotta visit Ix and put the fear of God__ (aka James Koren) into the lazy arses running the place, Love ya, cya soon, Chris." _

Down on Kaitain Wyatt Halliwell smiled. He was going to get his brother his greatest desire if it was the last thing he did. He laughed as the thought that if James Koren found out it probably would be the last thing the did. Still chuckling Wyatt began planning phase 2

* * *

**MW359,724**

The planet was mostly primitive but Bao Dur had detected the old Naquada mines and Atton had decided to go take a look in case they were worth negotiating a mining treaty over like the ones on Abydos. That was when they discovered the Alteran temple ruins and the damaged Alteran Puddle Jumper, Atton smiled at the memory of James ranting about exactly how he was going to execute him when he discovered that Atton's improvised name for the Alteran Gate Ships discovered in the supergates database had caught on

"So how's it going?" He asked Bao Dur who was currently messing around with the crystals trying to get main power back on line

"Slowly" the Irridonain replied as he worked carefully "The main power is completely depleted. I'm having to re route from the secondary generators which were designed to power the time travel drive"

"The WHAT?!" Atton yelled

"Don't worry" Bao Dur replied in his usual calm tones "As soon as we get this thing back to Kaitain I'll have it ripped out and locked into a deep dark vault where no one will ever find it"

"Good" Atton replied relived "We have enough problems without adding the complete mess of time travel into the mix"

Just then Bao Dur made the final connection and the puddle jumper came to life for the first time in 10,000 years

"Cool" Atton exclaimed "Lets get this thing back to Kaitain"

* * *

**Republic Naquada Mine – Abydos**

Daniel Jackson was very impressed with the mine. It seemed to be a more automated version of the open cast mines on Earth simply using better tools, the mine it's self was very profitable producing several tones of Naquada a month, which was good considering how fast the huge Peacekeeper Armada, or at least the part of it here in the Milky Way, consumed the stuff

"We actually have to do very little refining" the Sullustrian mine foreman explained through his Twi'lek interpreter "Sine the mineral was concentrated enough to mine by hand using industrial methods provides a tremendous amount of Naquada for little energy expended"

Daniel once again cursed himself. The SGC had been scouring the entire galaxy for naquada and somehow forgot about the massive open cast pits on Abydos. How could they have all been so stupid?

"Well its seems to be a very economical and safe working environment" Daniel said "and you seem to be complying with the Abydonians environmental conditions quite well"

"Yes it does slow down production some what" the foreman replied "But it is a small concession given how valuable the naquada is. How are the other things they traded for proceeding?" he asked making polite conversation

"The three underground reservoirs are almost complete which will make us immune to drought" Daniel replied knowing that in the desert even a short drought could be disastrous "as is the new sanitation system and the gardens growing the simple medical herbs are flourishing, the new equipment is also enabling the better construction of sand traps and arable land helping to make life much easier for us"

"Good" The foreman replied as a messenger quickly arrived and passed a pad to him "I imagine life here with their current tech level must have been very hard. This is for you Dr Jackson"

"It is?" Daniel replied in confusion as Kasuf looked on concerned

"Yes" The foreman replied "It seems that your request to visit the scientific expedition to the Goa'uld homeworld has been approved"

* * *

**Stargate Command – Earth**

"Receiving IDC sir, it's the Tok'ra" Sgt Harriman reported to Colonel O'Neill as General Hammond was currently absent from the control room

"Open the iris" Colonel O'Neil ordered "Maybe it's Dad" he said with a grin looking at Major Carter

"Maybe" she replied with a hopeful smile as they both headed for the gate room

"Martouf, how are you?" Major Carter said with a smile as the aforementioned Tok'ra came down the ramp with two other operatives

"Samantha, Colonel O'Neill" Martouf replied keeping his voice steady, he showed none of the fondness for Sam nor the distaste for O'Neill that he usually did a sure sign that something was wrong "Well enough under the circumstances"

"What's wrong?" Major Carter asked suddenly fearful

"Maybe we should discuss this somewhere private" Martouf replied gently confirming her fears

"Its my father" she realised

"I'm afraid that Jacob and Selmak have been captured by Sokar" Martouf reported sadly "As far as we know they are both still alive"

"As far as you know?" Sam said angrily her concern for her father seeping though

"You are aware that Sokar has taken on the persona of the figure that Earth knows as the Devil?" Martouf said calmly

"Yeh, a bit pretentious don't you think?" Jack replied with contempt, though whether at Sokar or the Tok'ra Martouf could not be sure

"_I suspect it is directed at us" _Lantash thought

"You are probably right" Martouf thought back "But we must ignore it for now. Samantha is distressed given the fate of her father, we must concentrate on her"

"_You are right of course my love" _Lantash thought requesting control so that he to may attempt to explain the situation to Samantha

"_Then you understand when we say that if Jacob and Selmak are still a live then they have been sent to hell__, a place of eternal suffering and damnation from which there is no return" _

Samantha looked ready to collapse at this news, had Martouf been in control he would have done nothing as protocol dictated but Lantash was far more forward and willing to throw expectations and protocol out the window than his host. He stepped forward and pulled Samantha Carter into a friendly hug

"_Do not give up hope Samantha" he said "We have a plan to rescue them" _

"Well then lets take this to the briefing room so we can hear this brilliant plan" O'Neill hissed with barely concealed rage. He didn't want that snakehead any closer to his 2IC than he could help. Thankfully Sam was to wrapped up in her grief to notice the tension and outright hate flowing between her commanding officer and friend and the people she had begun to have feelings for

"So what are we really talking about here" O'Neill asked once he hand managed to get his temper back under control

"Netu is a moon that orbits Sokar's home planet" Martouf began having assumed control again

"A very hot moon I take it" O'Neill interrupted

Martouf carried on without so much as a blink despite Lantash sitting in the back of his mind ranting about O'Neill's lack of manners "It is a place where fires burn strong" he continued "Sokar used the main weapons of his Ha'tak to punch holes in the moons crust and expose it's molten core, the resulting heat and gasses make it virtually inhospitable, the only place where life is possible is the ruins of an industrial colony built by the systems original inhabitants"

General Hammond SG1 minus Daniel Jackson winced from their positions around the briefing room table

"So why haven't you gone to your new Republic friends to mount a rescue mission O'Neill asked with an unpleasant smile "They get tired of you already?"

Martouf smiled serenely back "The Republic has already agreed to provide a Phantom Stealth Cruiser that will be standing by in jumpspace should we need to make a quick exit" he replied "However the problem is escaping from Netu with Jacob and Selmak, to our knowledge no one has ever escaped from Netu" he paused and looked directly at Samantha Carter "no one except for Jolinar"

"Oh boy" Sam sighed

* * *

_**PKSB Defiance of the Night – **_**James Koren's Office**

It had been several days since IS1 had brought the Alteran puddle jumper back to Kaitain and for the second time the subject of the Peacekeepers Warships had come up. Admiral Jha'dur, Bao Dur, Chris and James were all gathered in James's office while Bao Dur outlined his proposal

"There is simply to much new technology" Bao Dur was saying "No matter how modular our warships were designed we simply cannot tack on this much new tech after the fact and expect it to work properly and this is shown by how computer simulations predict that a Tau'ri Hammerhead with Foray escorts have an even chance of destroying an Icestorm with Hurricane escorts"

"Your joking" James exclaimed desperately hoping it was true

Bao Dur shook his head sadly "I'm afraid not" He replied "Despite their lower tech base the Hammerheads and Forays were designed with the new technologies incorporated from the ground up, this is apparently enough to off set their disadvantage and allow them to engage and win battles with our own patchwork upgrade cruisers"

The other members slumped down as they realised the scale of the problem

"That's not all" Bao Dur continued "The hybrid defence screens and weapons are far from complete but they will still require a complete replacement of every power conduit in the ship they are attached to and this doesn't even begin to take into account the fact that we now have samples of Alteran drone weapons. If we can manage to reverse engineer even a crude copy it suddenly makes missile style weaponry viable again and there is simply no way that our current designs can be modified to use them correctly, its impossible"

"We need a complete redesign" Jha'dur was the first to speak the unspeakable "Our current ships will serve for now but eventually we will have to relegate them to system defence and begin production of entirely new warships designed from the ground up to make the best use of our new technologies"

"Very well. Bao Dur, contact Alya Secura and begin designing the new warships, frigates, cruisers, command carriers, redesign the whole lot, if were going to do this then were going to do it right" James decided

"It will most likely take several years to have a prototype fleet up and running General" Bao Dur replied "But we will do our best to have them in service as soon as possible"

"Do so" James said distractedly "Our enemies are closing in around us and we must be ready to meet them head on if we are to fight our way through the coming of the night to see the dawn once more"

"By Your Command" Jha'dur and Bao Dur said bowing before they left the room

"It get's awfully cold up here sometimes doesn't it" Chris spoke after a few minuets of silence

"Events are moving to fast" James said quietly "Sokar is about to overpower the System Lord Collective and I have been sensing a dark malevolence that is returning to the Goa'uld Empire, a malevolence that we may be powerless to oppose alone"

"Our allies will stand with us" Chris replied confidently "United we stand, Divided we fall"

"That reminds me" James said with a sudden jerk "I almost forgot to vote. We wouldn't want to miss voting for the first Governor of Kaitain Sector"

"Well I don't think I need to ask who your voting for given all the campaigning you did for them" Chris said with a smile

"Absolutely" James replied playfully "Hopefully by this time tomorrow Arthur Pendragon will be Governor of Kaitain Sector and we can all sleep peacefully"

"And what if Morgana wins?" Chris asked curiously

"Then we batten down the hatches and prepare to be lead to our doom!" James exclaimed dramatically enjoying the moment of fun with someone who was quickly joining the ranks of his closest friends

Chris burst out laughing

* * *

**James Koren's Manor, Lothlorien City – Kaitain**

After the shocks of the day, including the need to redesign the entire armada James was looking forward to a nice quiet evening as he sat down to dinner. He should have known better than to jinx it

Are you James Koren? The Tok'ra messenger that had entered the dining room asked

"This is James Koren's house, this is James Koren's table, this is James Koren's dinner! What part of this progression escapes you?" James asked irritated

"My apologise" the messenger said "There has been a development that the Tok'ra High Council felt the need to inform you of immediately, SG1 has successfully killed the Goa'uld Sokar, unfortunately their actions helped the Goa'uld Apophis to escape Netu and he has now assumed control of Sokar's domain. As a former System Lord Sokar's Jaffa and minor Goa'uld are following him without question"

James groaned and began banging his head on the table

* * *

The stats on my profile have been updated to show the warship's new crew and space marine compliments

After many suggestions about how the Peacekeeper Armada could not be upgraded fully no matter how modular the design I have decided to go along with a complete redesign of Peacekeeper warships to incorporate the new technologies from the start. The design and construction will take along time though. If you have a ship you would like me to use as one of the new warships send me a link or pic and I will consider it. Names for the new classes will also be considered

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	17. An Introduction

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**Colin: **Thank you for your lovely review Colin  I agree it has been a little relationship heavy in the last few chapters but that is because I am setting the various parings up but with this chapter most of the introductions are finished and it should all begin to settle down and become a slow sub plot again. I did try writing it without the romance but it just made the characters so wooden it was like reading a history textbook, I'd also prefer to have one reader such as yourself who ignores things they don't like than 20 who want to effectively force JK and CH into the closet because they don't like it. I didn't like O'Neill and Carter making goo goo eyes for 9 series for many many reasons but it didn't stop me watching the show. Don't worry there will be no blatant sex scenes ever. Thanks again for your suggestions, I appreciate them and hope to see more as well as you reading and reviewing in the future

**Backwards/Catch-up Tau'ri: **At the moment and for a little longer the accusations that I am making the Tau'ri backwards and constantly playing catch up are true but that will not be forever. Simply put Earth is trying to go from the space shuttle to warships to match the galaxy spanning superpowers with thousands of years of battlefield experience in a couple of years. They are starting from way way behind but from now on the gap is going to continue to close until they are the superiors of the Goa'uld and equals of the Republic and Asgard, its just going to take them a little while to get there.

**New Characters: **In this chapter the civilian government of the GRP begins to take a larger role and the Sector Governor needed some supporting characters which would have their own distinct parts in the plot later in the story. I was going to use several different characters but then I watched the BBC's Merlin series. The four main characters were perfect with loving/friendly but biting/sarcastic interaction that perfectly fits the command staff that I have already created for this story so I decided to simply use them as they are

**Sector Governor: **Arthur Pendragon (played by Bradley James)

**SG COS: **Merlin Emrys (played by Colin Morgan)

**President of the Landsraad: **Morgana Le Fay (played by Kate McGrath)

**POL COS: **Guinevere Albion (played by Angel Coulby)

www. .uk/merlin/#/characters/heroes/merlin/

* * *

**Chapter 17: An Introduction**

**PKO **_**Arcadia**_**, Stargate Complex – Goa'uld Homeworld**

Wyatt Halliwell was currently cheesed off. Actually about 20 seconds after SG1 had exited the gate he'd finished the cheese and moved onto the wine and at this late stage he was in a taxi with two French girls and on his way back to their apartment singing Waltzing Matlida. The reason for his foul mood was the leader of the team that he had been put in charge of guarding, Colonel Jack O'Neill. Chris had spent the last few hours before Wyatt's departure ranting about how Apophis ascending to the throne of Sokar's domain had thrown the entire Peacekeeper High Command into panic and confusion at exactly how much damage the Tau'ri had done to Republic interests, again. For this alone Wyatt was ready to dislike O'Neill as anyone who upset his Chrissie that much had a permanent place in his bad books. Now after meeting the man Wyatt realised that he did not dislike O'Neill, he loathed him

"…and then we blew up Hathor's entire complex and made it back to base with only a handful of casualties and that was the end of her" O'Neill boasted as Wyatt continued to grit his teeth "how many men did you lose taking out that battleship? Dozens wasn't it? And in the end their wasn't a even a major Goa'uld on board? That must have been hard for you to swallow" O'Neill continued blithely

"Not nearly as hard to swallow as the urge to reach out and choke the life from you with my bare hands" Wyatt seethed in his mind "I have to get away before I really do kill him much as I'd like to point out that taking out the relatively stable Goa'uld has allowed more warlike Goa'uld to take their place killing more Jaffa and humans, exploiting more planets, placing a greater burden on all slaves and all in all making the galaxy a more miserable place. Still I doubt he would listen anyway, he seems to be one of the men that Chrissie says should be tattooed 'my minds made up, don't try to confuse me with facts'" "Excuse me Colonel" Wyatt said seeing a young woman talking to Teal'c "I just have to go and check on one of our other visitors" he headed for her at the speed of light as the two other Peacekeepers assigned to guard O'Neill shot death glares at him from under their helmets

"So have I told you two how we took out Sokar?" O'Neill asked the two remaining guards testing how far he could push them before they broke. He wanted to see just how effective Peacekeeper training was in self control as it would help him guage their training overall, his days in black ops had taught him that time and time again. Both Peacekeepers were beginning to think that shooting him would be worth the resulting court martial

* * *

**PKO **_**Arcadia**_**, Research Complex – Goa'uld Homeworld**

"…interestingly there is no naquada present in the skeletons of the symbiotes or in the symbiotes present in the lakes" the chief scientist Gaius Meldrew continued continuing to hold the attention of both Major Carter and Daniel Jackson "when compared to the test results from the captured modern Goa'uld Amonet this is a significant deviation, it may be what allowed the symbiotes to develop true intelligence as the ones on this world seem to be on the levels of dogs and lower primates, a large discrepancy given the intelligence of their modern cousin's I'm sure you'll agree"

"Well The Goa'uld are scavengers" Major Carter interjected a little nervous about interrupting the silver haired Sebaceans summary as she was enjoying her time spend with the civilians

"As far as we know nothing they have comes from them" Daniel Jackson confirmed respectfully "they steal technology then claim it as theirs"

"You are quite right of course" Gaius replied seeming to light up at the prospect of a debate with the two youngsters "But they had to have a certain level of technological prowess to steal the higher levels of technology in the first place, after all you can give a computer to a medieval civilisation but they are highly unlikely to be able to use even it's most basic functions, to reproduce it would be completely beyond their capability"

"Your saying that the Goa'uld had to have reached a certain level of technology to be able to reverse engineer the Alteran devises and create the Hat'ak, hand devices and staff weapons that they now use as a matter of course" Major Carter replied thoughtfully

"Exactly" Gaius replied "I'd estimate that the level of technology required would be, at absolute minimum, 1930's/1940's Earth"

"But there is no evidence of such a civilisation anywhere on the planet is there?" Daniel Jackson questioned

"And their you have hit it with a knife edge" Gaius replied "Any civilisation that advanced should have been able to resist Goa'uld infestation unless they had outside help or were almost at the same level so the Goa'uld had to have advanced to World War One level themselves to even have a hope of infesting a civilisation that would allow them to advance by scavenging and reverse engineering as they have obviously done"

"In that case" Daniel wondered "Where is the Goa'uld civilisation?"

"Where indeed" Gaius replied ominously

"Your saying that some other race tried to use the symbiotes as trained dogs infesting their enemies and reporting back what they learned?" Daniel replied incredulously

"Until the pet turned on the master" Gaius concluded darkly

* * *

**PKO **_**Arcadia**_**, Central Plaza – Goa'uld Homeworld**

"Greetings Knight Halliwell" Teal'c said as the aforementioned Astarii approached "I have been discussing the demise of Sokar with Guinevere Albion, she seems unsettled by his demise rather than pleased is this the view of all Republic Citizens?"

Wyatt looked over at the young human lady, in her late 20's with light chocolate skin and shoulder length curly black hair she had a homely beauty about her though currently she had a defiant look on her face, she was dressed in simple but tasteful clothing done in cream and earthy colours "I am afraid it is Master Teal'c" he replied deciding that honesty was the best policy with the Jaffa

"I see" Teal'c replied with a frown "I would have thought that the demise of any false god was cause for celebration"

"When you're safe and sound behind a protected planets treaty maybe" Wyatt replied hotly "when your out here in the galaxy in constant risk of discovery because the System Lords are expanding onto virgin worlds or ones they abandoned long ago in order to supply their increased war effort it's a different matter"

"Never the less a false god is dead" Teal'c replied his hatred of the Goa'uld shining though "Would you rather he still live?"

"If he's replaced by a more dangerous, more warlike one who is far less predictable then yes we would rather the false god Sokar still live" Wyatt replied levelling a challenging stare at Teal'c

"The Free Jaffa believe that if any false god can be killed then they should be" Teal'c replied meeting Wyatt's gaze with equal challenge

"The Free Jaffa can hide amongst their loyalist brethren" Wyatt responded "We have no such recourse available to us"

Teal'c nodded conceding the point even if he did not like it before wandering off to explore other area's of the outpost rather than continue to argue with Wyatt

"So Guinevere eh?" Wyatt asked the pretty young woman

"I prefer Gwen" she replied "Not that Guinevere's a bad name but it's just to long for normal conversation, not that long names are a bad thing I mean many people have long names and like them but I…"

Wyatt gave a kind chuckle as Gwen continued to babble and contradict herself "I think Gwen's a lovely name. Are you a member of the outpost?"

"No I'm the Lady Morgana's Chief of Staff" Gwen replied

Wyatt winced "My condolences on your election defeat"

"Well it was a close defeat" Gwen replied "Though she's not taking it to badly, she did maintain her seat in the Parliament and her place as President of the Landsraad and chair of the Science Directorate oversight committee"

"Is that why she's visiting?" Wyatt asked

"Yes a reminder that loosing the governor race is not the end of the world" Gwen replied "She's good like that, quickly recovering from setback's I mean, not that this was to large a setback, well it was but…"

"Gwen I get it" Wyatt laughed as she blushed and continued babbling "So would you like to take a walk around the outpost? I haven't seen much of it yet either"

"I'd like that" Gwen replied taking the arm Wyatt offered

* * *

**Senator Arnold Vinick's Office, US Capitol – Earth**

"Good morning Dr Weir have a seat" the US Senator and newly elected Chief Councillor of the Confederate Nations of Earth said as Elizabeth entered the room "What's the news?"

"I have completed my negotiations with Optrica and I have dropped in at Ice Station and gotten their views and reports to supplement my own" Dr Weir summarised accepting Chief Councillor Vinick's offer of water

"Has the transfer of all the alien artefacts from Area 51 to Ice Station gone as planned?" Vinick asked thanking God that he'd managed to locate the CNE's R&D station in the wastelands of Northern Canada rather than Siberia as the Russians had pushed for

"Yes and the new CNE research staff under Dr's McKay and Zelenka has adapted very well" Dr Weir replied "They have already scrapped the original hybrid death glider project as a bad job and come up with a new project. The X301 _Saber _Interceptor is being designed from scratch as we speak and modifications are already being made to a number of F-22 Raptors that will be the prototypes for our X302 _Broadsword _Space Superiority Fighter, the X302a _Trident _bombers are still under consideration as many military officers see bombers as a Second World War relic"

"Good, good" Councillor Vinick replied "I want to have fighter squadrons operational as soon as possible as they seem to be the only space defences we can create before the end of the year"

"We are attempting to go from the US space shuttle to interstellar warships in a hundredth of the time such technological advancement should take Arnold" Dr Weir reproached

"I know" Councillor Vinick said exasperatedly "But the threat of invasion with no defences at all is a great concern to all of us"

"In that case my negotiations will be good news to the other councillors" Dr Weir continued with a smile "I've managed to procure several titbits that will be of great benefit to the civilian markets as well as military ones but the crown jewel is a deal that will need the unanimous approval of the Confederacy's Security Council as there will be considerable diplomatic fallout"

"I'm not sure I'm going to like this" Councillor Vinick said with a wiry smile

"The Republic has refused to sell us Fury class defence platforms, no doubt to keep us from becoming to powerful and challenging their interests" Dr Weir began "But after studying the designs of the Hammerhead cruisers Optrican scientists believe that they can create a defence platform of our own design. Basically it will be a ring containing a triple barrelled super heavy turbolaser* and reactor all as heavily armoured as possible, in numbers it should give any attacker pause including Peacekeeper warships"

"And it's completely automated so we can field as many as Optrica and ourselves can produce?" Councillor Vinick asked receiving a nod from Dr Weir "What's the catch?"

"They want a Hammerhead and two Foray's as soon as the Republic delivers them to us" Dr Weir relied quietly

"Now that is unacceptable" Councillor Vinick replied "We haven't even received these warships yet, their not even built! And yet you suggest we just give three away??!!"

"Yes" Dr Weir replied calmly "In return for a full orbital defence grid to rival Kaitain's we sacrifice a mere 3 warships that we can replace in a few months once the shipyard we negotiated for is delivered and before you ask yes I have given thought to the politics. Japan's constitution forbids them from undertaking any offensive military activity and in wartime a ship that cannot be deployed offensively is practically useless so we give Japan's Hammerhead and Foray's to Optrica and receive the Spartan Defence Platforms in return. As compensation Japan will house the Command Centre for the Planetary Defence Network"

Chief Councillor Vinick looked thoughtful, three ships that could only be deployed defensively could not protect Earth as well as a Planetary Defence Network like Kaitain's, and if Japan acquiesced then this could go along way to securing Earth from a space based attack "Get to work Elizabeth, you present this to the Security Council tomorrow"

"Yes Chief Councillor"

* * *

**PKO **_**Arcadia**_**, Central Plaza – Goa'uld Homeworld**

"What the hell is that?!" Colonel O'Neill screamed over the noise as he and the rest of SG1 searched for a threat before the noise stopped as suddenly as it began

"That was nothing to worry about Colonel" a melodious voice said calmingly. Turning to face the source Colonel O'Neill found himself facing a tall, beautiful and elegant young woman in her late 20's with milky skin and wavy dark hair that fell to her waist, she was dressed in a brightly coloured and richly embroidered dress that reached to the ground and wouldn't have seemed out of place in a medieval court on Earth

Oh and just how would you know that because from where I'm standing you don't look like a solider" O'Neill growled still checking for threats and reaching for his P90 and pistol though neither were present

"That is the Lady Morgana" one of the Peacekeepers interjected quickly as he saw the look of fury appear on the fiery and spirited woman's face "she is President of the Landsraad and head of the Science Directorate oversight committee"

"Daniel?" Colonel O'Neill whispered quietly

"The Landsraad is the upper house of the legislative branch like the US Senate, the President of the Landsraad leads it just like the Chairman of the General Assembly leads the lower house" Daniel quickly whispered back

O'Neill groaned quietly "Another dam Kinsey then" he muttered "Sorry ma'm" he said louder "but when alarms go off we all tend to get a little nervous"

"It is just the sonic fence repelling another attempted incursion by the native Unas" Morgana responded shortly "It is nothing to be concerned about"

"Unas?!" Colonel O'Neill exclaimed as Teal'c became even more tense

"The sonic fence is merely the first line of defence and it has repelled all assaults to date" Morgana responded as if to a child

"You kill them?" Daniel said sadly

"The sonic fence is not lethal" Morgana replied much more kindly gracing Daniel with a smile due to his obvious concern for the Unas "Though it can be at higher settings at its current one it will only disable anyone who attempts to cross it"

"Well we'd still like our weapons back seeing as there are Unas running around" O'Neill demanded

"You will not be permitted to bare arms on any Republic world" Morgana snarled back "Fortunately the SGC has recalled you, it seems that a people known as the Tollan require your presence for Triad

* * *

**PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night, **_**James Koren's Office – Kaitain**

Christopher Halliwell entered to find James Koren asleep on his desk and smiled "He really shouldn't have stayed up all night watching the election results" he thought fondly, "He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping" he tentatively reached out to brush some of James's hair that had fallen in his eyes back behind his ear, he gasped and snatched his hand back as James's eyes snapped open and glowed molten gold, a sigh that an Astarii was using their power like a Sith's hate filled amber or a Jedi's serine blue white. Chris was overwhelmed as for the first time he felt the full power of the Grand Master

_James Koren looked around the shifting grey clouds of the force vision he was currently experiencing, out of the mist emerged a whole host of glowing white beings of energy. Most of them were filled with a sense of self righiousness and smug satisfaction as they watched another of their kind who radiated despair and guilt _

_The final figure appeared out of the gloom, it was made of glowing white energy like the rest but this one had taken the form of a human with a jackals head and a black crust covered it like the crust on a lava flow as it gave off waves of cruelty, malice and a will to dominate that the most vicious Sith Lord would have been proud of. The being filed with guilt and dispair tried to stop the final figure but the others held it back their smugness and pleasure spiking as the final figure advanced towards James_

"_Soon" it whispered in an oily black tone that promised pain and suffering "soon" _

_The galaxy burned_

James Koren shot upright at his desk and promptly fell out of his chair, Chris rushed to his side and helped him back up "James? James?" Chris called "Are you alright? What did you see?"

"Nothing" James gasped downing the glass of water Chris passed him "Nothing I haven't seen before, go and stall my next appointment would you please Chris? I need a few minuets to recover"

"Yes sir" Chris said as he bowed and left the room graciously accepting the dismissal despite the look of worry on his face

James continued to sit in silence and ponder what the force had showed him. A storm was coming, and it was not certain that they would survive

* * *

Sorry that this is a little short/rushed/wooden compared to my usual length but I need to get back into the swing of things

The new sector governor and his chief of staff will be introduced with a little back story in the next chapter while the Republic pays host to a visit from the Tollan, we will also see more of the Tok'ra on Kaitain and Jacob and Samantha in particular

*Think a fee floating peacekeeper frag cannon. A link with pictures has been added to my profile in the Tau'ri section

Reviews are especially important after this chapter to help me get my confidence back and let me know that you all are still reading


	18. Forced Decisions

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**FBueller129: **Yes exactly how the Goa'uld became advanced enough to scavenge and reverse engineer Alteran tech was never explained in the series, especially as there are no remains of an agricultural civ on their home world let alone an industrial one. This was my take on the matter, I'm glad you liked it

**New Characters: **In this chapter the civilian government of the GRP begins to take a larger role and the Sector Governor needed some supporting characters which would have their own distinct parts in the plot later in the story. I was going to use several different characters but then I watched the BBC's Merlin series. The four main characters were perfect with loving/friendly but biting/sarcastic interaction that perfectly fits the command staff that I have already created for this story so I decided to simply use them as they are

**Sector Governor: **Arthur Pendragon (played by Bradley James)

**SG COS: **Merlin Emrys (played by Colin Morgan)

**President of the Landsraad: **Morgana Le Fay (played by Kate McGrath)

**POL COS: **Guinevere Albion (played by Angel Coulby)

www. .uk/merlin/#/characters/heroes/merlin/

* * *

**Chapter 18: Forced Decisions**

**Stargate Command – Earth**

"Welcome back SG1, how did the mission go?" General Hammond queried as he and SG1 took their seats in the briefing room

"Well General…" Colonel O'Neill began

"We learned a hell of a lot" Daniel cut in glaring at Jack "along with a great deal of information on the evolution of the Goa'uld their chief scientist on the outpost, Gaius Meldrew, had some very interesting theory's on how the Goa'uld became so powerful"

"Anything of immediate significance?" General Hammond asked

"Not immediately but this information could prove very useful at a later date so I think that a return trip for a science team should be a priority" Daniel replied

"I agree sir" Major Carter put in "It was the first time since Kaitain that we've been able to get a look at the Republic's civilian infrastructure and even on a science outpost it was very impressive, they are both more advanced and at the same time exactly the same, it's hard to describe"

"It's as if Earth had simply carried on the way it is in most places until we reached the Tollan's or Asgard's tech levels" Daniel concluded "If it weren't for the technology you could easily imagine that you were in any city in the Western World"

"Well interesting as it is how does that help us" General Hammond asked confused

"Well we had electricity for decades before we learned that it could be used for anything more advanced than the telegraph" Major Carter explained "There are probably many ways that we can use what we have that we simply haven't thought of yet. It's things that the Republic citizens take for granted that could revolutionise the way we do things here on Earth and if we send a science team"

"They will keep an eye out for anything we could reproduce with our own technology, well done Major" General Hammond concluded "The President will be very pleased with that development. Jack? Teal'c?"

"It is unlikely that the free Jaffa and the Peacekeepers will ever be more than allies of convenience General Hammond" Teal'c said stoically "They are to much like the Tok'ra willing to allow false gods to live and even protect them from death should it suit their purposes. Many Jaffa will assume them to be the same and will treat them with the same distrust"

The other occupants of the room decided not to push Teal'c on that matter, though secretly all were pleased that their Jaffa allies would not find the Republic a better ally that the Tau'ri as the Tok'ra had done in all but name

"Well General" Colonel O'Neill began after a moments silence "The Peacekeepers are exceedingly well trained, you have to give them that if nothing else. I spent the entire time trying to provoke them and got nothing, even some of our marines would have reacted so their as professional as they look and most likely deadly on the battlefield, also provoking them like we do the loyalist Jaffa with taunts of false gods will have no effect, there to disciplined"

General Hammond nodded filing Jack's report away for later reference "Anyway SG1 the reason that you have been recalled is that you need to go to the Tollan home world immediately"

"May we ask why sir?" Colonel O'Neill asked

"Skaara has been captured by the Tollan, there is to be a trial to decide whether the Tollan remove Klorel from his body and Skaara wants you to act as his defence team"

SG1 set a new speed record for travel time from the briefing room to another planet

* * *

**Republic Milky Way Shipyards – Ixian Orbit**

Bao Dur looked out of the viewport watching the slow rotation Ix and the constant stream of cargo ships bringing materials up from the surface of the rocky red planet. He turned as his companion re-entered the room bearing food and drink as it had been her turn to fetch supplies. Alaya Secura was a blue skinned Twi'lek in her mid 60's. Despite being force sensitive she had long ago decided that designing star ships was her passion and had decided not to become an Astarii. There was not a day went by that she did not thank the force that she was born in the GRP, had she been born in the old republic or the Galactic Alliance she would have been taken as a child and trained, never given the choice of what to do with her life she would never have discovered the joy that she felt whenever one of her creations left a shipyard

"Right lets recap" she said as she grabbed one of the new chocolate bars being imported from Earth, they were very popular and she'd had to pull rank as Chief Designer to get them

"The redesign of the Vengeance, Firestorm, Icestorm and Hurricane class warships has been taken over by the junior departments" Bao Dur summarised in his soft tones "When completely redesigned with all the tech we acquire we will begin construction of the Mk II of all of these classes, they will form the new sector defence fleets throughout the Republic"

"That leaves us to design the new warships that will form the Kaitain Strike Fleet" Alaya "and if they perform well they will replace the warships of the Three Strike Fleets in their entirety" her voice couldn't hide her excitement at the thought of her new warships making up the entirety of the Peacekeeper Armada's offensive power

"Grand Master Koren has issued us with new instructions as well" Bao Dur said picking up a pad marked high priority "whatever we decide will be the new flagship we are to create two of them. I guess no matter what we come up with he has something special planned for the flagship slot"

Alaya kept her mouth shut, she had been involved with Project Arcturus before her transfer to Kaitain and new exactly what the Grand Master had planned, and as she new of the project the new fleet could be designed to support it, covering it's weaknesses. Alaya gave Bao Dur a very evil smile "Well then we have our work cut out for us, first we'll delegate the upgrading of the Cyclops and Helios torpedo's with naquada to the junior departments and the modification to the bombers to fire them. Then you can get started designing the _Chimera _and _Gorgon _classes and I will design the new _Basilisk _and_ Dragon _classes"

"The new naming scheme is to be mythical creatures of our new Tau'ri allies?" Bao Dur questioned

"They have a great imagination for destructive creatures with intimidating names" Alaya replied with an evil smirk "It would be such a shame to waste it"

* * *

**Tollana ****– Triad Chamber**

"By count of two to one priority is awarded to Skaara, we will summon the Tok'ra to come to Tollana and assist in the removal of the Goa'uld Klorel. If he survives he will be sent to the Goa'uld world of his choice" High Chancellor Travell, a late middle age matronly woman with steel grey hair in a tight bun delivered the Triad's verdict before sending a command from her computer bracelet to the detachment device attached to Skaara's body causing the light to change from red to blue as it forced Klorel into submission allowing Skaara to control his own body again "I have locked the detachment device, Skaara you have priority control until the Goa'uld is removed. Prepare yourself, the Tok'ra will arrive as soon as possible and congratulations" she finished with motherly smile

Lord Zipacna grabbed the communication ball he had hidden under his desk "_Ha'tak. Ree nok, Ha'tak" _was all he managed to get out before Teal'c leaped across the room knocking the communication ball out of his had before knocking him out

"Let's go" O'Neill ordered, SG1 Narim and Skaara ran from the room as an alarm began to sound, "Skaara, wait here. Just trust me" Jack said shoving the protesting Abydonian boy into a side room as they ran outside

"How's that superior technology serving you now? Security system serving you pretty good is it?" O'Neill griped at Narim as continuous golden beams shot down from the Ha'tak in orbit to locations on Tollana's surface

"The Ion Cannons" Daniel realised with dread what the beams were targeting

"They've got a dead lock on all of them" O'Neill concluded grimly

"Where's Teal'c Daniel suddenly noticed that the Jaffa was missing as the Ha'tak in orbit fired the golden bolts following the targeting beams precisely taking out all of the Tollan Ion Cannons simultaneously before any could return fire allowing the incoming Udajeet and Al-Kesh to strafe the Tollan capitol city

"I must inform Travell" Narim said running back into the building as the rest dived for cover running into Teal'c and the Nox Lya

"Zipacna has escaped through the Stargate" Teal'c informed them

"Well that's the least of our prob… where have you been?" O'Neill shot back

"I must inform you O'Neill that I have disregarded your orders concerning the Goa'uld" Teal'c deadpanned

"Please explain" O'Neill ordered

Lya circled her hand in front of her causing them all to shimmer and disappear and then reappear in a field outside the capitol city

"So what's going on here?" O'Neill asked again becoming more confused by the minuet

"I have requested Lya's assistance" Teal'c replied as Lya waved her hand again causing the Ion Cannon she had hidden to come back into view

Teal'c rushed forward and entered the activation code he had observed the Tollan use before and the Ion Cannon swung around obliterating the two death gliders closing on their position before firing two much larger bolts at the Ha'tak in orbit blowing it apart

"Sweet" O'Neill exclaimed as he watched the expanding fireball

* * *

**Tollana – Curia Building**

Lya had transported them back to the capitol city where they were greeted by a very grateful High Chancellor Travell "I thought the Nox were pacifists" Major Carter whispered to Lya whilst Travell thanked Teal'c

"I only hid the weapon, I did not fire it" Lya replied

"Ah" Major Carter said quietly "That's a pretty fine line you didn't cross"

"Yes it is" Lya agreed sadly

"So we basically saved your whole planet right?" O'Neill cut across their quiet conversation

"Yes" Chancellor Travell replied graciously

"Are you therefore indepted to us in any modest way?" O'Neill pressed eagerly

"I suppose that is the case" Travell said with a knowing smile

"So how about giving us the plans to build one of those Ion Cannons?"

"You have been told our policy, that has not changed" Travell replied causing O'Neill's face to fall

Thankfully Dr Jackson came through the doors at that moment "The Tok'ra have completed the procedure" he called excitedly

"O'Neill!" Skaara called as he literally bounced the doors in a Tok'ra uniform receiving hugs from all of SG1. One of the Tok'ra broke off from the rest and approached the happy reunion where Skaara was now crying with happiness upon hearing the news that his sister had been freed as well.

"Martouf" Sam greeted with a smile as she broke away from the main group "How are you?"

"I am well thank you Samantha" Martouf replied calm and reserved as ever before his head dipped and Lantash pulled her into a hug "_It is good to see you again"_

"You to Lantash" Sam replied "How's my father doing?"

"_He is doing well" _Lantash replied as the released each other_ "The base on Kaitain is helping both him and Selmak to recover from their ordeal, we will be heading back as soon as we have concluded some other business we have with the Tollan" _

"Oh" Sam replied disappointed knowing that only ambassadorial staff were allowed to visit Kaitain

"_Tell her" _Lantash thought to his host "Why don't you?" Martouf thought back nervously _"because it will be good for you to show that you care for her as well" _Lantash reasoned with annoying logic "No" "_Yes_" "No" "_Yes_" No.. Lantash don't you dare!" but Lantash had already given control back to Martouf laughing quietly whilst retreating to the back of his mind "Samantha we have been able to arrange for you to visit your father on Kaitain, if you wish you can wait here whilst we conclude our business with the Tollan and then come back with us"

Martouf loved the way Sam's eyes lit up as she replied "Yeh, sure I don't mind waiting. I'll just get permission from the Colonel"

Thankfully she had turned around so she didn't see Martouf's wince _"That is probably going to be more difficult that she suspects" _Lantash thought "I believe you are correct" Martouf thought back as as Sam spoke to him Colonel O'Neill looked over and glared

Martouf was glad of the distraction Lya's approach offered him

* * *

**Tollana – High Chancellor's Office **

"I do fell guilty about not rewarding them for saving Tollana" Travell said to the middle aged sandy haired man who was the room's sole other occupant

"Yes, well I suppose they have their uses no matter how primitive" Councillor Omoc replied. Omoc was the most powerful member of the Curia apart from Travell but his staunch conservative stance and abrasive personality had won him a lot of respect but few friends, his aid Narim and Travell were two who could claim to be considered friends "But you saw Colonel O'Neill's reaction, he wanted our most powerful and deadly weapons and whilst I can understand them wanting military technology they did not ask for a purely defensive one, nor ask what we would be prepared to trade or even request one of two singular examples. They asked to be able to reproduce unlimited numbers of one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy, that alone show's they are not ready"

"As much as I wish to disagree I cannot" Travell replied "but I did not bring you here for a philosophical discussion, The Tok'ra have a proposal for us and as we both know that you will be the most difficult of the Curia to convince on almost any foreign policy or trading matter I decided to have you here now and save ourselves a great deal of discussion"

Omoc graced her with a rare smile as Martouf entered the room

"Greetings Martouf and Lantash, how can the Tollan help the Tok'ra" Travell said as both she and and Omoc bowed their heads to their guest

"_Greetings High Chancellor, Councillor" _Lantash said bowing back to them_ "It is rather how the Tok'ra can help the Tollan. Given the recent attack I believe it is clear that the Tollan require either new defences or to think more strategically"_

"How can the Tok'ra help us in this?" Omoc replied "We cannot hide underground or utilise many other of the defences that the Tok'ra use, your guidance would be of no use to us"

"It is not our guidance that we offer" Martouf took over as the calmer of the two "There is a new race in the galaxy, space faring they have entered the galaxy through a supergate of Alteran design. Although cut off for the most part from their home galaxy their population still numbers in the billions. They have hundreds of warships and thousands of defence platforms proving that they can use powerful weaponry responsibly and their civilisation has lasted for 4,000 years. In all that time they have fought wars with dozens of other civilisations but they have never started any of them"

"They will want our technology" Omoc declared as if this was a cardinal sin

"Undoubtedly" Martouf replied "but they will be reasable in their requests and negotiating tactics and in addition they have several ideas, strategies and technologies that you will most likely find very usefull that they can offer in return. There is a standing invitation for a member of the Tollan Curia to visit the Galactic Republic of Planets for nothing more than a cordial visit. Should you be impressed by what you see then negotiations can begin"

Travell and Omoc looked at each other before taking note of the cracks in the walls left by the Goa'uld's all too successful attack "Very well" Omoc declared "I will accompany you back to Kaitain, but I do not expect to be impressed"

Martouf simple bowed and smiled, many said that and to a man they were left in wonder of the glittering jewel that was Kaitain

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

Standing behind and to the left of James Koren Christopher Halliwell mentally reviewed the information he had been able to gather on the two men who had just entered the room. Both stood at ~6ft, the same size as James and himself, bother were in their late 20's being slightly younger than James who was 34 and both were among the very few people that James considered true friends but that was where the similarities' ended

Arthur Pendragon was broad shouldered with a muscular build that out did anyone else in the room without being a body builder. Arthur had milky skin with just a hint of sun induced bronze and blonde hair coming to just below his ears. Ice blue eyes completed the picture causing him to be considered either very pretty or very classily handsome depending on who was commenting. On one thing they all agreed, Arthur Pendragon could have every single person in a room at his feet in 30 seconds flat. Arthur was brave and honourable but also a prat as Merlin loved to remind him, what almost all people failed to realise was that his prickly arrogance, barbed humour and biting sarcasm hid the fact that he was missing the softer emotions, the ability to trust, a willingness to let himself fall in love, they had been destroyed by betrayal long ago and only recently had Arthur begun to let people get close to him again, even he couldn't resist Merlin's stubbornness

Merlin Emrys was thin and goofy and though he did have a certain wiry strength his truly epic clumsiness was a source of constant amusement for Arthur. Merlin had short black hair and creamy skin with intense cobalt blue eyes and prominent ears, overall he was considered very cute by everyone he met especially when they discovered his quick wit, great sense of humour and bubbling personality that was virtually impossible to repress. You could always count on Merlin to brighten your day. Merlin was also force sensitive but his file was classified so only members of the Astarii High Council could see it, something that piqued Chris's curiosity

Both were from Camelot Sector where Arthur's father Uthur Pendragon was governor, a man with a deep hatred of force users Uthur used every contact he had to survive multiple allegations that he had violated the Declaration of Principles. As a Camelot sector was a monarchy King Uthur continued to cling onto his position by his fingernails

Merlin had saved Arthur from an assassination attempt and had been appointed his manservant as a 'reward'. Though neither were pleased at the time Merlin thinking Arthur a prat and Arthur thinking Merlin an idiot they eventually became best friends as Merlin continued to do anything except what Arthur told him to and tease and insult him, something Arthur desperately wanted after spending his entire life surrounded by sycophantic yes men their friendship grew even surviving Merlin telling Arthur about his gift despite Arthur being raised to regard it as an abomination

Unfortunately Merlin's power was revealed when he saved Arthur from yet another assassination attempt (those that hated Uther generally didn't care which Pendragon they hit) and Uthur ordered that he be imprisoned and then 'shot whilst trying to escape' Arthur refused to let his friend die and along with this adopted sister Morgana and her servant Gwen they fled Camelot Sector

What happened next was an argument of epic proportions. No matter how much he would miss him Arthur wanted the best for his friend and so wanted him to become an Astarii even if it did leave Arthur feeling like his heart had been ripped out. Merlin decided that staying with is closest friend was what was best for him and refused to leave Arthur's side. Eventually they compromised and Merlin attended the Astarii's one year course for those force sensitives that didn't want to join the order but still needed some rudimentary control over their gift. Whatever had caused Merlin's file to be classified had caught the attention of Grand Master Koren who had taken a personal interest in both Merlin and Arthur

Chris resolved to ask him why as soon as they were alone

"Arthur" James greeted him with a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek "Congratulations. You to Merlin, you must be very proud of him" "Interesting" James thought with a smirk as he caught Arthur's flash of jealousy when he embraced and kissed Merlin

"Yes washing his Excellency's' socks will be even more of an honour" Merlin replied his eyes sparkling with mirth as the entire room laughed apart from Arthur who managed to keep an outraged expression on his face

"Your proud of him really" James smirked

"Those socks are very clean, of course I'm proud of them" Merlin grinned

"I don't know why _Mer_lin" Arthur shot back stretching out the first syllable of Merlin's name "You are the worst manservant ever!" Merlin just shot Arthur a grin in return that had the new governor struggling to keep a straight face

They all moved over to the sitting area of the office Merlin showing far more familiarity that Chris would ever have dared "Maybe I should change that?" he thought

"Well Arthur apart from wanting to congratulate a friend on his election victory I also wanted to reiterate this sector's rather unique situation" James began

"Of course" Arthur said seriously sitting up straighter

"You have control over all domestic affairs but foreign policy and military matters stay with me" James began "As does expansion and trade relations, you are now the second in command of the expedition, the executive committee will advise and council you but you will be in command should anything happen to me"

Arthur tried to hide his dismay "I take it this means that I won't be able to deliver on my election promise of more worlds to colonise?"

"I have ordered colony ships produced for the systems of Penzance, Truro, Perth and Sodor" James replied

"Away from the core" Arthur noted displeased as he had promised to expand in all directions

"Arthur don't be a prat" Merlin needled him "Their colonies we'll advance in that direction in time"

"Exactly" James said brightly "and if your still worried about the press you'll get why don't you implement Merlin's education idea of letting the parents choose the school they want and the schools being paid per pupil"

"Because it wouldn't work" Arthur said sadly hating to tear down Merlin's idea "the DE would block it"

"Fine get rid of them" James said with typical bluntness

"What?" Arthur asked startled

"Get rid of the Department of Education" James clarified

"I don't understand" Arthur replied not thinking James was serious

"Get rid of it, remove it, abolish it, expunge it, eliminate it, eradicate it, Exterminate it! Get rid of it!"

"I couldn't do that" Arthur protested

"Why not what does it do?" Merlin asked seriously

"I could do that" Arthur realised, I say I wonder what Morgana will say?"

"Whatever she says I want to be there when you tell her" Merlin said with a dreamy smile

"To witness the clash between the executive will and the legislative will?" Arthur asked him with a fond smile

"I think it will be more of a clash between the executive will and the legislative wont" James interjected

All four managed to hold it for a few seconds before they collapsed in laughter

* * *

Arthur and James meet with Omoc in the next chapter and Earth makes a surprising decision. I hope my introduction of Arthur and Merlin wasn't to long but both will play a significant part in the plot as will Morgana as we hurtle towards Apohpis's outright war and Aubis's return

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	19. Are you in all day Thrursday?

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

Sadly though my interview went well I didn't get the job which is why my update has been a bit slow. Sorry

I have written a story for Merlin called Three Revelations, check it out if you want and let me know what you think. All of the review's have been positive and apparently 'pure sugar has nothing on it' so it's great for cheering you up

* * *

**Chapter 19 – Are you in all day Thursday?**

**Tok'****ra Tower – Kaitain**

Jacob Carter and his symbiote Selmak were grateful beyond belief for the new Tok'ra base on Kaitain, the original embassy had now taken over an entire tower, one of the tallest in Lothlorien City. The Kaitain Sector Citadel at the centre of the city was snowflake shaped and Citadel Tower was at its centre, at the centre of each snowflake arm was another tower just slightly shorter and the Tok'ra had chosen the one on the Southern arm as the location of their new base. Jacob and Selmak were spending a great deal of time on the roof of the Tok'ra base. Looking north Citadel Tower and three supporting towers were prominent against the backdrop of the high snow covered mountains, to the east and west the grassy plains stretched on forever giving a perfect view of the sunrise and sunset and to the south the river delta meandered it's way into the sea which stretched out of sight. Overall the view from the top of the tower could not have been more different from the literal hell that was Netu nor the industrial nightmare that was Delmak which was why Jacob and Selmak were up here, to remind themselves that the air was breathable and that there was no lava or people who wanted to kill them lurking around every corner. In the Tok'ra main base the tunnels and desert would have reminded them all to much of Netu but here both could relax, they were safe, they were home

The first rays of the suns reflected off Citadel tower casting pools of coloured light against the Tok'ra Tower. Jacob and Selmak closed there eyes and slipped into a peaceful sleep

* * *

**Citadel Tower – Kaitain**

"My lady" Arthur Pendragon spoke softly as he took Morgana's arm and lead her the length of the room to the head table

"My Governor" Morgana replied with a smile as she took his arm and they began to walk

Today was Wednesday and all of the members of the sector parliament and governors office met for breakfast in Citadel Tower's banquet hall so that they could discuss the actions of the body politic away from the prying eyes of the press. It was at these breakfasts that a great deal of the wheeling and dealing required for any democracy to function was carried out, safe from the censure of the public for dealing with people they disliked or in a manor they disapproved of things could actually get done for a change. After all for the most part you couldn't ask people to govern responsibly and run for re-election at the same time which was why the Supreme Chancellor could only serve a single 10 year term

"Well I'm glad that your escorting me today" Morgana continued as they walked down the centre isle to the head table "I wouldn't want to be escorted by Valiant after the last vote"

Alex Valiant was the chairman of the General Assembly and had surprisingly been the biggest opposer of Merlin's educational reform

"Yes well I'm glad he's not after my victory" Arthur said smugly, he had always disliked Valiant

"Me to, it's not every day a girl gets to save her knight" Morgana said with a smirk reminding Arthur of his previous profession as Crown Prince

"Well I don't think that I actually needed saving" Arthur replied his pride shining through

"Your reform bill was going down to defeat before I rallied support in the Landsraad" Morgana shot back hotly

"I'd have thought of something"

"Your just to proud to admit you were saved by a girl"

"Because I wasn't!"

"You know what? I wish Valiant were here!"

"So do I, then I wouldn't have to listen to you!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Walking behind their masters Gwen and Merlin shot each other amused looks, both were shaking with repressed laughter at Arthur and Morgana's antics, it appeared that no matter what happened or what jobs they had they would always be brother and sister

* * *

**Tok'ra Tower – Kaitain**

"Wow" Samantha Carter exclaimed as she realised that Martouf and Lantash were leading her to one of the eight supporting towers

"The Tok'ra Tower is indeed a beautiful sight in the morning" Martouf said softly as he took in the colours reflecting off the tower

"They gave you one of the eight supporting towers?" Sam asked in awe

"Yes" Martouf replied "North is the Tower of Knowledge where the Kaitain Archives are stored and accessed in the largest library on the planet, North East is the Tower of Justice holding the courts, North West is the Ministers Tower holding the sector governors cabinet. East is the Tower of the Assembly holding the representatives offices and the same is true of the Tower of the Landsraad to the west, the south east is the Traders Tower where the Republic's companies come to trade with each other and other civilisations and south west is the Tower of Diplomacy holding the foreign embassies. This one however is ours, south, the Tok'ra Tower

By now they had entered the cavernous lobby of the Tok'ra tower which was decorated in blues and greens to remind the Tok'ra of their underground tunnels

"Where did you get all the pieces of art?" Sam asked as she took in the many statues and paintings scattered around the lobby

"_Now that we have time to rest and relax many Tok'ra wish to indulge their creative sides" _Lantash replied_ "the works you see throughout the tower are created by Tok'ra most often in the style of the hosts home planet with their symbiotes putting their own unique twist into the work. Many of us find creating them therapeutic, to use our hands for something other than destruction. The people of the Republic like them too, apparently they are great sellers at the monthly market and at auctions" _

"Have you created one" Sam asked distractedly looking at a beautiful paining of Citadel Tower, the Tower of Justice and the Ministers Tower against the backdrop of the mountains to the north. The paining was exquisite

"Maybe" Martouf replied with a smile "you'll have to wait and see"

Sam allowed herself to be drawn away from the beautiful paining that had captured her attention to one of the lifts in the core of the tower, after a short ride they emerged onto the roof of the Tok'ra Tower

"It's beautiful" She gasped in awe as she took in her surroundings, a sound suppression field covered the roof shielding it from the noise of the city, all around trees and bushes, hanging vines and flowers melded together in ordered chaos to form the most beautiful garden she had ever seen, sheltered alcoves contained fountains who's splashing water mixed with bird song to create a calming atmosphere

"_It depends what you compare it to" _Lantash said looking pointedly at her and inwardly ignoring Martouf's embarrassed exclamations

Sam blushed as he caught their meaning "So is my father here?" she asked to break the silence

"This way Sam" Martouf guided her to one of the secluded area's facing south, the salty smell of the distant sea was more pronounced on this side

"Hey Dad" Sam said as she sat down on the bench next to her dosing father "How are you doing"

"Sammy" Jacob exclaimed as he noticed his daughter sitting next to him and pulled her into a tight hug "How you doing kiddo?"

"I asked first" Sam replied with a smile

Jacob sighed "I won't insult you by telling you I'm fine, but we're getting there, Selmak and I together. This place really helps, the Tok'ra have never had anywhere they felt safe enough to just relax in beautiful surroundings, its really helping, so don't you worry. We'll both be fine eventually"

Sam gave her father a tight hug relieved that he seemed to be recovering from his stay on Netu, they both sat there for a while watching the glistening river meander its way to the sea

"So have you created any of the paintings around here? Sam asked her dad after a while

"No but Martouf and Lantash have created a large one of the view to the north that hangs in the lobby" Jacob replied "You probably saw it on the way in, it gets a lot of attention"

"Oh they did did they?" Sam replied her eyes flashing dangerously as she got up and began to sneak up behind Martouf

Malek arrived just in time to see Samantha Carter push Martouf and Lantash into one of the fountains, and then promptly get pulled in after them with an indignant shriek. Jacob and Selmak laughed freely for the first time in weeks

* * *

**PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

Christopher Halliwell approached James Koren's office to inform him of the Tollan Omoc's visit tomorrow, finding his secretary had left her desk he let himself in and promptly dropped his pad in surprise

James Koren had his back to the door and was facing the window which was not that shocking, what was shocking was that he was standing on his desk, playing and imaginary guitar and singing along to So What? by Pink which was one of the more popular songs that had arrived from Earth

Chris froze like a deer in the headlights as James did a half turn jump and noticed him, blushed and then gave an evil smirk before pulling him up onto the desk with him

_I'm gonna get in trouble, my ex will start a fight_

_Na na na na na na na _

_He's goanna start a fight _

_Na na na na na na na _

_Were all gonna get in a fight!_

_So So what? I am a rock star, I've got my rock moves and __I don't need you_

_And guess what? I'm having more fun, and now that we're done, I'm gonna show you tonight _

Despite the fact that he was blushing bright red Chris found himself dancing and singing along as well, and surprisingly loving it

After the song finished James turned the music off and jumped off the desk, following suit Chris sat down in one of the arm chairs whilst James lounged out on one of the sofa's and handed him a glass of water

"Sir" Chris began intending to deliver his original message

"Chris at the moment and until the end of lunch we are simply two friends hanging out together" James interjected still a little breathless "After all master and servant don't sing and dance together"

Chris blushed at the double meaning before settling back into a comfortable silence for a few moments "Why do you have such an interest in Arthur and Merlin?" he asked deciding to take advantage of the friendship moment

James thought before answering "In Arthur's case he was brought to my attention by Merlin because they are a package deal, you don't deal with one without dealing with the other. Over time though Arthur has showed himself to be honourable, wise and with a good heart"

"Everything else can be taught, but a good heart is innate" Chris whispered remembering the motto James had chosen for the family he one day hoped to have

"Precisely" James replied "and despite how much of a prat he sometimes is there are few hearts purer than Arthur's. That's why I want him to win the election for Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic of Planets when Padme's term of office comes to an end"

"But he's not ready, and that's why you insisted he accompany you here, so he can learn the ropes under your eye so you can catch him if he falls" Chris realised

"I'm more like an elder brother and mentor to both of them than a close friend" James replied "and like a mentor I have positions that I would like them to fill if they want to"

"What about Merlin?" Chris asked cautiously not wanting to put to much strain on this new and entirely welcome friendship "Why is his file forbidden to all but the masters of the High Council?

* * *

**Southern Continent Forests, ****Lirael City – Kaitain**

Arthur Pendragon loved hunting, he performed only clean kills and he never let any of their meat go to waste but he still loved tracking down dangerous prey and proving himself superior. Merlin was decidedly less enthusiastic about the whole thing but accepted it as one of the things about Arthur that wasn't going to change

"There's something up there governor" one of the hunting party said pointing to a clearing on a rocky plateau 4 meters higher than their current position

"Spear" Arthur whispered to Merlin who managed to pass it to Arthur without dropping it for once. Arthur believed the whole point of hunting was to test your own skills not the skills of someone in a factory who programmed computers, as such he refused to allow anything more sophisticated than a crossbow on his hunting trips "Merlin flush it out"

Merlin nodded and began to circle his hand horizontally in front of him, small drips of water began to fall of the edge of the plateau which quickly became a small stream then a raging torrent as if the cliff had always been a waterfall, a magnificent stag jumped off the edge to escape the water and Arthur threw the spear with deadly accuracy gaining a quick clean kill. The water faded back to a trickle and then drips as Merlin stopped circling his hand, the gold in his eyes faded changing them back to their normal cobalt blue

"That's not an Astarii power" one of the new members of the party whispered fearfully quickly backpedalling away from Merlin

The bright smile on Arthur's face faded as he saw Merlin look downcast at the ground and seem to shrink into himself, glaring at the man and reminding himself to ban him from all future hunting trips **ever** Arthur quickly gathered his friend in his arms. Merlin had been taught by experience to regard his gift as a curse, and sometimes that still shone through. "Merlin" Arthur whispered gently into his ear "Could you show me my firebird? Please?"

When Arthur was truly comfortable with Merlin's abilities the first thing he had asked for was a demonstration and Merlin had created a firebird that had flown around them before exploding in a spectacular display of colour

Merlin nodded, a smile gracing his face at the child like eagerness in Arthur's voice, he circled his hand in front of him and fire burst into being, this time it was no firebird, this time it took the form of a mighty dragon 4 meters long that gave a massive roar before circling the hunting party and engulphing it's offending member in flames that terrified but did not harm him and then exploding in a kaleidoscope of colour

Arthur looked shocked but also inordinately pleased at the transformation as the pulled Merlin closer to him

Merlin decided not to mention that the fire he created reacted to his bond with Arthur, the firebird of years ago had represented their friendship. He didn't know what the dragon meant

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

"Merlin isn't human" James decided to trust Chris after a moments silence "nor is he Sebacean or Alteran, he's something else, one of the Alteran's old allies who look's human but we don't know more than that. What we do know is that there seems to be no limit to what he can get his mental powers, his gift, to do. Force lightning is the best that an Astarii can do yet Merlin can create fire water air and earth and make them all obey his command, he can shimmer himself and passengers to anywhere on the planet he's on. He's far less powerful than Wyatt but there seems to be no limit to what he can do with the power he does have. He was even able to kill a sith and use the life force to resurrect a close friend that the sith had killed moments before"

Chris sat stunned, such a fluid and versatile power was unheard of, he now realised why Merlin's file had been classified "I see why the file was classified, many would react badly to such a revelation" he said quietly

James smiled and Chris got the feeling that he had just passed some sort of test

When Atton poked his head around the door he had a hard time containing his laugher as he saw James and Chris once more on James's desk this time dancing and singing, badly in his opinion, to When You're Looking Like That! by Westlife. He slipped out and sealed the door behind him

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight, **_**Standard Orbit – Venus**

Lady Morgana was currently of the opinion that Colonel O'Neill was actually not that bad. It could have been that this time he was not deliberately trying to provoke his guards or it could have been that she was standing next to Senator Robert Kinsey

"At last with this new shipyard we'll be able to spread the American way of life to the entire galaxy" Senator Kinsey declared as the tugs baring the motto of the colonial movers company, 'Colonial Movers, We Move Anywhere" exited hyperspace towing the new outpost scale shipyard that Earth had negotiated for

"And what of the cultures already spread throughout the galaxy? Morgana asked as diplomatically as she could silently cursing whomever had failed to realise that today was Thursday and President Bartlett's 4th State of the Union address was something he couldn't get out of

"They'll fall into line" Kinsey said waving his had dismissively "We are the United States of America, we are one nation united under God and he will ensure our success and the spread of our way of life. It is the Manifest Destiny of America to rule the galaxy"

Morgana ground her teeth and resisted the urge to order that Kinsey suffer a tragic accident

"The Lady Morgana looks like she's ready to kill Senator Kinsey" Colonel Chase Tyler noted to the others who were standing with him as far away from the Senator as possible

"Yes, that tends to happen a lot around him" Colonel O'Neill deadpanned getting grins from the three other members of the group

"I must say I am surprised you chose to place the shipyard in orbit of Venus" Commander Caleb Danvers noted "I believe that the first planet that everyone thinks of on Earth is Mars"

"Yes it is" Colonel O'Neill replied "and before your little flyby we probably would have put the shipyard there but when you appeared from behind Venus everyone remembered that just because the Sun is in that direction there isn't some massive wall preventing ships from entering the solar system from that side and flying passed it"

"Good, learning from your mistakes is how you bring as many of your troops home alive as possible" Commandant Pine noted

"Well that and all the conspiracy nuts think that we have a secret base on Mars" Colonel O'Neill replied "For some reason no one ever considers Venus, probably because it's 300 degrees and rains sulphuric acid"

"Sounds like the perfect place for a holiday park for the Trikar" Colonel Chase speculated

O'Neill was about to laugh when he saw the others agreeing. It seemed that the stargate going only to human habitable worlds meant that Earth had missed a great deal of the alien life out there

"So who's going to rescue Lady Morgana?" Commandant Pine asked

Dead silence was his only answer as his command crew scattered faster than the speed of light

* * *

**Tau'ri Embassy – Kaitain**

Ambassador Richard Wolsey was looking out over Lothlorien city from his office in the Tower of Diplomacy when the com system sounded

"Yes?" he said activating it

"Hold please for POTUS"

"Richard?" President Bartlett's disembodied voice came over the com "Are you there?"

"Yes Mr President" Ambassador Wolsey stammered "How can I help you?"

"I just read your report that the Tollan are due to visit Kaitain, and that they are likely to trade technology?"

"Yes sir"

"This is intolerable, we basically saved their whole planet and yet they still refuse to trade with us" President Bartlett's temper was coming to the fore

"I believe that is because 99.99% of Earths population is still unaware that they even exist Mr President" Ambassador Wolsey said respectfully

"Richard make and appointment for me to meet with the Republic's leadership as soon as possible, I want to discuss one of their proposals with them in more detail"

"Yes Mr President" Ambassador Wolsey said sighing with relief as the channel closed before activating the com again "Tell Merlin Emrys that I wish to meet to discuss a visit by the President of the United Stats of America at Governor Pendragon's earliest possible convenience"

* * *

For all foy you interested in/confused by Merlin's powers I suggest you re read the attack on Tollana very carefully, extra points to everyone who notices the connection

Just in a quick recap the Sector Citadel is an eight armed snowflake in Alteran influenced style. At the centre is the tallest Citadel Tower holding the offices of the Sector Governor and the various state rooms, at the centre of each of the eight arms is a tower arranged like the four supporting towers of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant they are

North: The Tower of Knowledge

North East: The Tower of Justice

East The Tower of the Assembly

South East: The Traders Tower

South: The Tok'ra Tower

South West: The Tower of Diplomacy

West: The Tower of the Landsraad

North West: The Ministers Tower

Centre: Citadel Tower

Put 'Arthur/Merlin-So What' into Youtube for the first song

Put 'Arthur/Merlin-Looking Like That!' into Youtube for the second song

Sadly though my interview went well I didn't get the job which is why my update has been a bit slow. Sorry

I have written a story for Merlin called Three Revelations, check it out if you want and let me know what you think. All of the review's have been positive and apparently 'pure sugar has nothing on it' so it's great for cheering you up

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	20. An Unpalatable Contingency

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**Trife **and **cjcold2** get extra points for guessing Merlin's secret, congrats guys

* * *

**Note: **I've added two new tables to my profile help both you and me keep the power of the various star empires warships in context with each other. Both will be added to as time goes on. Let me know what you think of them and also let me Know if you'd like me to do one for the standard ship to ship weapons as well

* * *

**Armour Strengths:** Rated 1 to 20 with 1 being the least durable and 20 the most durable

**1.)** Civilian galactic standard armour (GA and GRP)

**3.)** Tau'ri trinium/carbon armour (Civilian)

**5.) **Goa'uld armour

**6.)** Military galactic standard armour (GA)

**8.)** Asgard standard armour (Beliskner)

**10.)** Asgard naquada/trinium/carbon armour (O'Neill) + Tau'ri trinium/carbon/collapsed-core molybdenum armour (Military)

**20.) **GRP collapsed-core molybdenum armour (Military warships and support ships only)

* * *

**Shield Strengths:** Rated 1 to 20 with 1 being the least powerful and 20 being the most powerful

**2.) **GRP Defence Screen

**3.) **Galactic Standard Shields (GA)

**7.) **Goa'uld Shields (System Lord)

**8.) **Tau'ri Shields (1st generation - Hammerheads and Forays)

**14.) **Asgard Shields

Note that shield power is also proportional to the size of the ship generating it. The Defence Screen of a Command Carrier is going to be more powerful than the shield protecting an Al-Kesh. This scale is best used between ships of comparable size eg: Imperial II SSD/Firestorm/Ha'tak/Beliskner/ etc...

* * *

**Chapter 20 – An Unpalatable Contingency**

**PKC **_**Inquisitor – **_**On Approach to Kaitain**

"Councillor Omoc, welcome to the C&C" Commandant Raphael Caspian greeted his passenger as he stepped up to the holotank "I thought that you would like to view our entry to the Kaitain star system"

Given that the Tollan homeworld was clear across Bastet's territory and that of several minor Goa'uld as well the GRP had been forced to dispatch a Phantom stealth cruiser rather than the PKC _Starlight, _which in any case was overseeing the deployment of the Tau'ri's Venus Shipyard in Sol system. As the most senior intelligence operative Commandant Caspian and the newly repaired _Inquisitor_ were chosen for the mission. The Tollan representative could have come by stargate of course but both Grand Master Koren and Governor Pendragon felt that it was better to show the technical and space capabilities of the Galactic Republic of Planets to the Tollan at every opportunity to remind them that they were a fellow starfaring power not unsophisticated savages begging for scraps as, with the exception of the Tau'ri and Tok'ra, everyone else who came to the Tollan were. The fact that _Inquisitor _had passed right by Bastet's capitol planet of Bubastis remaining undetected by the planet, the garrison fleet, Bastet's personal escort fleet and her flagship had raised even the impassive Omoc's eyebrows

"Thank you Commandant Caspian" Omo'c replied looking at the hologram dominating the tank and the view screens attached to the walls giving the outside view in that direction "What is that?"

"That is the Prison Moon councillor" Caspian replied "Except for mutiny and treason in a time of war Republic law has no death penalty, as such criminals serving life sentences are sterilised and sent there as are prisoners of war though they are not sterilised and are released on the wars end. It's a tundra type moon, liveable but not comfortable and it is guarded by Fury defence platforms, Hurricane frigates and Icestorm light cruisers"

Omo'c nodded noting the lack of a death penalty as a point in the Republic's favour as Tollan law was the same "It is good that you sterilise prisoners before sending them to the prison moon" he noted "Most would balk at that"

"It is the Republic's view that allowing children to be born in prison is worse" Caspian explained "No child should suffer because of their parents sins. If you would care to look here you can see the planet Ix coming into view, the second inhabited planet in this system it's a rocky world who's main purpose is to provide raw materials for the shipyards above"

Omoc' was perturbed by the Ixian shipyards "Do you really need such large shipyards?" he questioned "They alone exceed the entire industrial output of New Tollana"

"We are building everything from scratch councillor" Caspian explained "Every new warship needs to be built and repairs to our existing ones have to be carried out here, raw materials and finished goods need to be shipped between planets especially now we are making trade agreements and the civilians are wanting ships of their own now the system is secure to say nothing of Intersun and White Star wanting new passenger liners for the interplanetary traffic and luxury cruises"

"Surely two planets and a few trade treaty's don't require that many ships unless they are completely inferior designs" Omoc argued

"If you look here you will get a special treat, not may people see them" Caspian said brining one area of the shipyard into focus, Omoc was stunned by the massive ships, their dorsal surface area alone had to be 25km squared, each. "GRP Colony ships are the largest and best equipped in two galaxies" Raphael continued proudly "Arthur Pendragon has announced a wave of colonisation and these are to be the instruments of Prince Arthur's vision. Named after the systems their going to they are Penzance, Truro, Perth and Sodor"

Omoc was silent, the massive colony ships had him revising his opinion of the Galactic Republic of Planets, it seemed that they put the same amount of effort into everything, not just their war machine

_Defiance of the Night _and _Isenguard _came into view maintaining their vigil over the surface of the GRP's Milky Way Capitol

"Welcome to Kaitain councillor" Raphael Caspian announced as they slipped into obit "The two starbases act as anchors for the outer defence grid which consists of them and the defending Firestorms, Icestorms and Hurricanes. The inner defence grid consists of Fury defence platforms and ground based planetary defence squadrons. There are also several surface to orbit planetary guns should all else fail and an enemy fleet force their way into Kaitain orbit. Unlike Tollana our defences are based on never allowing the enemy vessels to achieve orbit rather than blasting them to atoms once they come in range of the surface batteries, though with your impressive Ion Cannons that becomes a much more attractive backup option"

Omoc was stung by the gentle criticism, even more so since he had nothing to counter it with as the latest Goa'uld attack had been successful

"_Victory at Corellia_ this is Commandant Raphael Caspian aboard the _Inquisitor_ do we have permission to land?" Commandant Caspian commed the surface

"Confirmed _Inquisitor_ we stand ready to receive you, you may begin your landing and welcome back to Kaitain" the spaceport C&C replied

_Inquisitor _began her decent, Omoc was still debating the various merits of the Kaitain and Tollana defence grids, it was surprisingly a much closer match than he expected

* * *

**PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

"James there's a com for you from the Tau'ri embassy, It's ambassador Woolsey" Chris caught James just as he was heading out the door to the new ring room and down to the surface

Seriously considering just legging it and pretending he wasn't in James slunk back into the room at the 'don't you dare' glare Chris sent his way. "He knows me to well" James thought with a sigh as the sat behind his desk and a translucent blue Ambassador Woolsey appeared in front of him

"Ambassador" James greeted neutrally "How can I help you?"

"Grand Master" Ambassador Woolsey replied bowing in the Japanese fashion which, having had the most dealings with the GRP, the new Confederate Nations of Earth's new Diplomatic Corps had installed as the standard greeting "There has been an accident with one of our SG teams. SG1 was evacuating a planet known as Edora from a meteor shower when one impacted the gate cutting off Colonel O'Neill from the SGC. Major Carter estimates that it will take 6 months to rescue him without your assistance"

While James respected Colonel O'Neill's ability as a commander, personally the two of them were like fire and ice. At the moment Chris had a hard time keeping himself from laughing as James looked like Republic Day had come early

"Grand Master?" Ambassador Woolsey questioned

"I'm thinking it over" James replied looking appropriately thoughtful

"Ah, good" Woolsey replied worriedly

"I take it there are refugees on Earth who need to be picked up on the way?" James asked deciding to put the Tau'ri ambassador out of his misery

"Yes Grand Master" Woolsey replied with relief "I have also been directed to ask that you respect our mining negotiations with the inhabitants just like we did with your negotiations with the Abydonians"

"Not that you had a choice" James thought to himself. "Of course" he said aloud as Ambassador Woolsey's hologram wavered and disappeared

"I'll inform Director Shiar that the Tau'ri will soon have a steady source of naquada and then I'll dispatch a Phantom to Earth and Edora" Chris offered

"You just want to get out of the reception and negotiations" James griped with a smile

"Guilty as charged" Chris laughed dodging the pen James threw at him

"Git" James muttered as he headed for the ring room

* * *

_**Victory at Corellia **_**Spaceport, Lothlorien City – Kaitain **

Arthur Pendragon liked red and currently he was dressed in his red double breasted jacket, red undershirt and red leggings with brown boots.

Standing behind him were two of the Chancellors Guards who guarded the Supreme Chancellor of the GRP and the sector governors. They were a homage to the senate guards of the old republic and wore a floor length blue robe and gloves with blue armour underneath and a blue helmet with twin black feather plumes.* They carried silver heavy pulse rifles and heavy duty shield projectors of Gungan design on their wrists to better protect their charges and were considered the equal of any of the Grand Army special forces squads despite the fact that they were a civilian operation

Merlin Emrys wore his standard grey tunic with brown leggings and boots along with a red neck scarf that Arthur could not get him to get rid of no matter how much he argued, ordered, wheedled, pleaded or outright begged. That was not what was annoying him most at the moment though. The most annoying thing ever in Arthur's opinion was how Merlin would not stop pacing, or shut up

"I'm sure he'll be here… I mean this is a very important meeting… he cant… he wouldn't…" Merlin stammered as he paced growing concerned over Master Koren's absence

"Merlin shut up! Your making nervous" Arthur's patients finally broke

Merlin stopped pacing and stood still. Unfortunately for Arthur he promptly started drumming his fingers on his com pad. The chancellors guards hid their smiles as Arthur rolled his eyes skywards in a 'why me' expression

"MERLIN!"

Thankfully Master Koren appeared with two Astarii Guardian Knights in tow as guards as the PKC _Inquisitor _came in for landing

* * *

**C****onfederate Nations of Earth Vulcan Shipyards, Venus Orbit – Sol**

"All I can say is thank god someone vetoed O'Neill's suggestion of Utopia Planitia, we have enough star trek references" Radek Zelenka commented to his boss and, though neither would admit it, friend Rodney McKay

"How is **Vulcan Shipyards** not a star trek reference?" McKay exclaimed incredulously making quote marks with his fingers to the name he had already resolved to despise on sheer principle

"Well we are in orbit of Venus yes?" Zelenka explained as they entered the covered dock at one end of the shipyard "The Roman god of love? Who's husband Vulcan was god of blacksmiths and fire?"

"Yes, well in that case I guess that it is rather appropriate" McKay mumbled as they entered one of the sealed docks "Who thought of it?

"Man with callsign cjcold2 in intelligence review department" Zelenka replied as they looked over the covered dock. The Vulcan shipyard was outpost scale giving it four covered docks for manufacturing fighters and shuttles, four docks open to space for manufacturing escorts and two docks open to space for manufacturing cruisers. Capitol size vessels such as command carriers could be constructed as well but a scaffold to hold them had to be deployed away from the shipyard itself and the shipyard could only support one scaffold at a time. The upside was that once this scaffold was in place it could stay there simply churning out capitol vessels and over time this was how the shipyards generally expanded, incorporating free floating scaffolding into their main structure then building more. The covered dock McKay and Zelenka had just entered was currently the only one in use, it held the prototypes for the Tau'ri X301 _Saber _Interceptor (formerly the X302 project) and the X302 _Broadsword _heavy fighter (several F-22 Raptors lay in various stages of modification). The X302a _Trident_ would be constructed here as well as soon as the air force officers opposing it got off their high horses and realised that dedicated bombers like the British Lancaster and American B52 were far from WW2 relics. In the galaxy at large even the Goa'uld had dedicated bombers as fighters were simply to small to carry ordinance capable of doing significant damage to capitol ships with active shields or defence screens, and in the Peacekeepers case not much could damage them with their defence screens down either. Anything large enough to do serious damage made the strike craft carrying it completely unable to dog fight if it could carry it in the first place ergo: a bomber was needed

"Designer Secura?" McKay called out causing the blue skinned Twi'lek the GRP had sent to help them design their own warships to appear

"Ah there you two are" Alaya Secura said as she came towards them covered in oil from the guts of an F22 "The designs for the X303 Prometheus are terrible, completely beyond salvageable, we'll have to design a new escort from scratch"

She continued to speak over McKay's indignant protests as he had done to other's many times. Zelenka smirked to see his boss getting the same treatment for once

"The X304 Deadalus designs however show great promise, they'll need major scaling up and modification but we can work with them. I don't see designs for a bomber though where are they?"

"Well American military does not believe bombers necessary" Zelenka replied "Have not needed them on Earth for 30 years so now viewed as museum pieces"

"They cant be that stupid!" Alaya replied incredulously "They might, be able to mount useable numbers of something capable of doing damage to class 5 and 6 armour on a fighter but how are they going to deal with the shields and defence screens of their opponents when there are no friendly capitol ships to batter them down?"

"The current thinking is that with a small hyperspace generator on board they could fly through the shield bubble and attack from the inside" McKay said his contempt of the idea obvious as he ran though the GRP's armour class table in his mind

"With the ships maneuvering at several thousand kilometres an hour, in battle conditions, hopeing that they don't have their navigational shields activated as they are inside the battle shields and will read an incoming fighter as an navigational hazard and vaporise them" Alaya deadpanned not believing her ears as she tried to process what the US Air force would rather ask of it's pilots than design a dedicated bomber

McKay and Zelenka shrugged as if to say 'I know but there career officers who think they know best and are willing to sacrifice thousand of lives rather than admit their wrong'

"Well hopefully someone will dissuade them from that notion pretty quick" Alaya concluded "Come on!" she exclaimed dragging the two protesting scientists towards the fighters "Lets get these operational first, we have a great deal of work to do"

* * *

**Hotel Majestic, Lothlorien City – Kaitain**

"This suite is yours for the duration of your stay with us Councillor" James said as they entered the diplomatic suite of Kaitain's premiere hotel

"You are free to move around Lothlorien city but we would prefer that you not leave it" Arthur began

"Are you hiding the poor conditions of the other cities?" Omoc asked immediately looking for reasons to declare the GRP primitive

"Not at all" Arthur replied gritting his teeth as Merlin sniggered behind him glad to see Arthur on the receiving end of someone's pratness for a change "Information on them is in the databanks if you wish to look at them in more detail"

Omoc moved over to the window and looked out over the city

"As Foreign policy and trading falls under my authority I will be conducting the negotiations with you tomorrow, would mid day be an acceptable start?" James questioned

"You are the military leader are you not?" Omoc questioned with the slightest hint of a sneer

"Yes which would seem appropriate as it is military aid you seek after the Goa'uld's successful attack" James replied sweetly whist smiling icicles at Opmoc, he had been in this game a long time and could give as good as he got

"Mid day will be fine" Omoc replied tersely turning back to the window in an obvious dismissal

"You're goanna have your hands full with that one" Arthur vented at the guards assigned to Omoc as the doors closed behind them

"Just be glad you don't have to deal with him" James griped from Arthur's side. He looked less than thrilled at the thought of spending hour after hour with the abrasive Tollan. "On that note though I hear the President of the United States is arriving tomorrow?"

"Yes he wanted to talk about a purely civilian matter so I didn't feel the need to trouble you with it" Arthur replied hiding his worry well

"Good, I'll be in with Omoc but if you need support or advice don't hesitate to call" James offered

"Thanks" Arthur replied "But I'm sure I'll be fine"

Arthur was very proud and confident of his own abilities but he would never place his pride above the wellbeing of his people. It was one of the reasons James had campaigned so hard to have him elected Governor of Kaitain. He would take James up on his offer if he needed to.

* * *

**PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Triumvirate Observation Room**

"Grand Master" General Santiago greeted as both she and Admiral Jha'dur bowed as James Koren entered the observation room "Councillor Omoc's arrival went well?"

"Very well, he's holed up in Hotel Majestic for the night until negotiations begin tomorrow" James replied as he joined them at the viewport. Usually James would be lying on the floor, Jha'dur would be leaning against the wall and Corazon would be pacing, today however they all stood straight backed and tense. The reason for this was the same reason that no one knew that they were here and that all but one recording device had been turned off, they had come to discuss actions that the Galactic Republic of Planets would deny all knowledge of, they had come to decide a matter of life and death

There had been little military action since the Republic counter strikes at Antak and Abydos months before and the air in the military leaders meeting room had grown stale, oddly appropriate given the distasteful reason for the meeting. "I have never missed my fellow Security Council members more than I do now" James murmured quietly "I had hoped that this situation would not arise when we could not refer the matter to the Security Council for a decision but" he trailed off and sighed "They are not here, we are. We must decide if and how we act, we three"

Corazon and Jha'dur looked distasteful but resolved, they were the military leaders, they were expendable as was James himself. Arthur was not which was why the Triumvirate dealt with these matters in addition to their military duties, to give him plausible deniability should their actions be discovered and heads needed to role

"The decision falls to us, we three" Jha'dur whispered regretfully echoing James's words and sentiments "You have both read and re read the Lady Morgana's report?"

Both James and Corazon nodded solemnly

"The issue before us is the assassination of Senator Kinsey" Corazon said slowly, her thick Spanish accent becoming more pronounced due to the stress "He is dangerous in the extreme with his belief in America's Manifest Destiny and he intends to use military power to achieve it and subjugate the entire galaxy under American rule"

"If he gains power we will be at war with the Tau'ri" Jha'dur commented "He will not back down and neither can we once he begins threatening innocent worlds"

"It doesn't even matter if we win" James elaborated his strategic mind running scenarios and seeing the theorised campaign spread out before him. "If we loose we will have inflicted so much damage on the Tau'ri that they will be broken, useless for generations and the Goa'uld System Lords will not let such weakness pass, they will capitalise on their sudden advantage and destroy the Tau'ri no doubt blaming their destruction on the remains of our forces"

"And if we win then Senator Kinsey is the sort of man that will inform the Goa'uld of our location purely out of spite" Jha'dur commented "Weakened and distracted we will be swiftly overwhelmed"

Neither James nor Corazon disagreed with her

"Assassination is the ultimate last resort" James sighed "Not least because the accused has no opportunity to defend themselves, the very basis of our legal system"

"And yet sometimes it is necessary for the greater good" Corazon mused

"**NEVER **use that term" James hissed glaring at his General as the actions and inactions the Jedi Masters justified with those two words flashed before his eyes "There is no such thing as the greater good, it is a nebulous term used to hide the fact that there is no reason to justify your actions that will stand up to scrutiny. We are contemplating this because otherwise as soon as Kinsey comes to power we will be at war with the Tau'ri. Those are our reasons, no more and no less"

"Yes Grand Master" Corazon said meekly bowing her head. She knew that she had disturbed old memories and had no desire to rub salt in the wounds of someone she respected highly even if he was several decades her junior

"We are agreed then?" Jha'dur said moving to defuse the situation

Corazon bowed her head

Jha'dur bowed her head

James bowed his head

"The vote is unanimous" James said softly "If Robert Kinsey ever rises to the post of President of the United States of America or Councillor of the Confederate Nations of Earth then the order will be given for his immediate assassination"

General Santiago, Admiral Jha'dur and Grand Master Koren attached their seals and authorisations to the orders before turning off the recorder

The lights went out as two members of the Triumvirate returned to more palatable duties. Millions of lives would be saved if it became necessary to carry out their decision but it still didn't make it sit right. With either of them.

"We must decide to act, we three. For if we don't then millions will pay the price. Yet do we have the right to play games with the lives of those around us? I sometimes wonder if this is how all tyrannies begin"

No one answered the final member of the Triumvirate as they whispered their inner thoughts to the cavernous hall. They turned and exited the room. Below, night fell on the cities of Kaitain.

* * *

* http: . com/wiki/Senate_Guard Info and link added to my profile

**Note: **I've added two new tables to my profile help both you and me keep the power of the various star empires warships in context with each other. Both will be added to as time goes on. Let me know what you think of them and also let me Know if you'd like me to do one for the standard ship to ship weapons as well

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	21. A Mission of Mercy

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**Tomcat1701 **Thanks for your lovely review. I Don't mind that you skip the gay romance part at all. Hopefully I'm including enough straight romances to compensate you for it :D Looking forward to more reviews from you

On that note **Colin **(anonymous) **One_Villiage_Idiot **and many many others haven't reviewed lately. Have I scared you all off guys?

* * *

**Note: **The Mercy class Hospital ship is really to difficult to describe so if you want to know what it looks like then a link to it has been added to my profile

I also decided to make the medical colour a forest green background with a lilac symbol rather than Earth's white background with a red cross. Let me know what you think, I'll change it if enough people hate it.

The medical symbol itself is the galactic standard letter for B. My thought is that after thousands of years of having that written on Bacta patches it would have become he medical symbol just like the cross has become to us.

My profile has a link to wookipedia's galactic basic entry which gives the visual alphabet, sounds and grammar of the language my GRP characters are speaking. Thankfully they all have translators or are Astarii and can understand English anyway.

* * *

**Chapter 21: A Mission of Mercy**

**Stargate Command, Briefing Room – Earth**

President Bartlett looked around the briefing room of Stargate Command whilst General Hammond took a phone call in his office. The President had put around rumours of him being ill with the flu and had cancelled all his appointments for the day and was about to travel to Kaitain via stargate when the news came that the GRP ship sent to return the refugees to Edora would be arriving early.

"It's entered the system Mr President." General Hammond said indicating the plasma screen at the foot of the table. "NASA is sending their pictures of it now."

The plasma screen abruptly changed to show a ship quite unlike any they had seen so far. The entire thing looked like someone had got squares and rectangles of various sizes, stuck them all together haphazardly and then made the drawing 3d. The overall effect was quite indescribable.

"Why is it forest green?" President Bartlett wondered aloud falling into the trap of forgetting that universal things on earth, such as red and white = medical, red = bad, yellow = warning and green = good, were not necessarily the same throughout the galaxy

"That is the medical colour of the GRP Mr President." General Hammond responded "Just as white and red is ours, if you look closely you should be able to see the lilac medical symbol, their version of our red cross."

"Oh yes." President Bartlett replied as he saw the lilac symbol "It looks like someone has drawn an eye using only straight lines and then rubbed out the two corners doesn't it?" he mused.

"It does actually." General Hammond replied. "The symbol is actually their letter B as their most potent medicine is known as Bacta and after several thousand years of seeing it on medpacks it was adopted as the universal medical symbol of the Galactic Republic of Planets. The ship is a Mercy class Hospital ship. She's 1km long by 200m wide at her widest point and 350m high. She carries 500 crew, 200 space marines, 8,000 medical staff and has room for 12,000 patients. More if an emergency demands that they be crammed in."

"And she has the medical capability of a fully equipped hospital in Washington DC?" President Bartlett asked.

"Several times over Mr President." General Hammond confirmed. "She carries no offensive weapons and has only 100 Flak Guns and 1 Tornado squadron for defence though her armour is warship grade and her speed outstrips anything of similar size. Her unusual design is so that any outbreak of infection or disease can be quickly sealed off protecting the rest of the ship"

"How did she get here so fast?" President Bartlett asked "The request was only made yesterday."

"As I understand it Mr President." General Hammond explained "The GRP has reproduced the Goa'uld cloaking field for their Phantom cruisers but cannot cloak anything larger. They have however hybridised the Goa'uld cloak and the Minbari stealth field to produce a very power hungry stealth field that does not hide the ship from the naked eye but will hide it from any sensor system in the galaxy. The system is to power hungry for the warships but with no offensive weapons the hospital ships have power to spare. RHS _Medstar One_ was testing the prototype in our relatively quiet corner of the galaxy when the call went out."

"And it was faster to re rout _Medstar One_ which was better suited for the mission in any case." President Bartlett concluded. "Well George it looks like your finally going to get those refugees off your base" he remarked as the plasma screen showed RHS _Medstar One _entering orbit.

General Hammond wondered if singing and dancing would look unprofessional.

* * *

**Stargate Command, Ring Room – Earth**

Having learned that the Tok'ra were building ring transporters for the GRP to use on their ships and installations the SGC had realised the benefits of being able to transport directly from Stargate Command to their new hammerheads and had promptly gone out and nicked one.

The room itself was large to allow for cargo and large numbers of crew to be transported without ferrying it in from another room, currently the room contained SG1 minus O'Neill, General Hammond, Dr Frasier, President Bartlett and the leaders of the new national SG teams.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to not being in the US Air force." General Hammond thought as he looked over to see other uniforms. Though the command staff was the same Stargate Command now fell under the jurisdiction of the CNE and all of them took orders from the Confederacy HQ not the Pentagon. In addition 5 extra SG teams had been provided by the new CNE member states and it was the leaders of the flagship teams that were present now.

The secret service agents tensed as the rings activated delivering the GRP delegation. A 5ft 8ins Sebacean with pale skin and shoulder length brown hair stepped forward and bowed "Greetings Mr President, I am Commander Susan Ivanova, the commanding officer of the Republic Hospital Ship _Medstar One." _She said in a strong Russian accent. "This is the Chief Medical Officer, Healer Delen of Mir" a Minbari/Human hybrid woman in her early 40s stepped forwards and bowed "And you have heard of Lady Morgana, President of the Landsraad. Her ship re routed to meet us when news of our mission was broadcast." Morgan stepped forward and bowed as well

President Bartlett took in the three women before him. On Earth he was slightly ashamed to admit that you would have been lucky to have one of them be a woman, two at most. There was no chance that all three would be. He remembered the reason Daniel Jackson had given was that since there were so many species out there there were also many religions and when you had to worry about pissing off all powerful goddesses as well as gods rather than a singe God who was almost always represented as male. Well the actions of the female goddesses seemed to nip sexism in the bud pretty quickly.

Daniel Jackson waited for the introductions to be done before he pulled Commander Ivanova to one side.

"Yes Dr Jackson what can I do for you?" She asked respectfully, news of this mans academic prowess was a regular topic of discussion, even on Kaitain.

"I have a favour to ask." Dr Jackson said awkwardly as Commander Ivanova motioned for him to continue

* * *

**Abydonian City, Abydos – The Previous Day**

"Nanay… Nanay…"

Daniel Jackson was awake at once and his mind immediately began translating the Abydonian into English.

"No… No…"

It was Skaara that was moaning in his sleep. Once more the memories of his time as Klorell were resurfacing and as he was asleep he couldn't ignore or hide them. The symbiote was long gone but the physiological damage was far from healed.

Sha're shot out of bed heading for their son Shifu so that he would not start crying as soon as he awoke for that would just disturb Skaara more. Daniel slipped behind the cloth partition and sat down on his brother in law's bed.

"Skaara, wake up" He whispered gently shaking the young man's shoulder

Skaara awoke with a start and searched franticly around him. He clenched and unclenched this fists in front of his face checking that it was not all a cruel dream and that his freedom was real "Daniel" he cried lurching forward to cling to his brother in law "The demons memories do not fade. Where ever I go people and things remind me of the demon Klorell."

Daniel held the young man until he calmed down enough to go back to sleep before he sliding back into bed himself. "Sha're?" he asked in the dark.

"Yes Daniel?" His wife answered still wide awake from comforting their son.

"Do you have the same feelings and memories of Skaara?"

Sha're thought for a moment before answering "I have many memories of my time as demon possessed my Daniel. But Apophis saw his queen as an important and delicate resource like a skin of water in the mid day sun. There were few times when my demon left the palace." Left unsaid was the fact that Klorell was his fathers enforcer and had likely performed dozens of atrocities in his name, forcing Skaara to witness them all. "Besides I have my husband and my son to drive the memories away" Sha're smiled giving Daniel a passionate kiss.

"I'm not going on the mission tomorrow." Daniel decided.

"Yes you are my husband." Sha're corrected him.

"No I'm not." Daniel reiterated.

"Yes you are." Sha're replied forcefully. "Many of the homeless people will need a familiar face to reassure them of the safety of their journey home. Not to mention that your friend O'Neill will want to see you."

"I will not leave you and Skaara behind at the mercy of your demons memories." Daniel was not leaving no matter what she said, Jack would understand.

"Then take us with you" Sha're said after a moments pause. "It will be good for both of us to be somewhere where we have never been, where there are no memories of being demon possessed and no people who know of our fate to remind us of it. Besides Skaara will be glad to see O'Neill again."

Daniel chuckled at that. Had he not walked in on the young abydonian and a girl reaching third base he would have been certain that Skaara had a crush on O'Neil. "That is true my wife." he said sending her into fits of giggles. The comic relief was welcome but the sentiment was true. Skaara put great stock in Jack's opinion, he would know what to do.

Daniel resolved to ask the captain of the Republic ship tomorrow.

* * *

**Stargate Command, Ring Room – One Day Later**

"Of course." Commander Ivanova replied with a sympathetic glance. "We would be honoured to have such important guests of our Abydonian allies accompany us and lend their skills."

Daniel bowed showing his thanks and turned to leave.

"Dr Jackson." Commander Ivanova called him back. "_Medstar One_ has several mind healers in addition to our regular healers, I could ask Delen to set up an appointment for the three of you if you believe it would help?"

"Thank you Commander" Dr Jackson replied giving his consent.

Delen was far from being the only human/Minbari hybrid but she was quite rare. Among the races of the galaxy it was very rare for different species to be able to breed, often the parts lined up but things didn't connect on the cellular level. Humans with their very adaptive genome were the exception to the rule and could breed with their four closest races, Sebacean, Nebari, Dilgar and Minbari. Currently Delen was grateful for her enhanced strength as Dr Frasier added yet more files to the ever growing pile in her arms.

"Oh and most of the refugees are suffering from caesium deficiencies." the diminutive Dr noted adding another file. "You have your work cut out for you healer Delen."

"I have never found saving the lives of others to be work. Indeed I believe it is my calling in life." Delen replied.

Dr Frasier beamed and reached for more files.

"I must thank the Republic for providing us with this favour My Lady. We could have sent them home ourselves eventually but it would have taken months and this way is better for all concerned." President Bartlett made sure to interact with the Lady Morgana when it became apparent she had joined the mission rather than return to Kaitain. Grand Master Koren preferred to place as many missions as possible under civilian command to prove that the GRP was not a police state despite how heavily militarised their Milky Way presence was.

"It was no bother." Morgana replied. "Though I must say I am surprised, I had expected them to all be Christians by now."

President Bartlett was a veteran of the political arena and recognised the dangerous tone of her voice "We would never force our religion on anyone." He quickly moved to reassure the formidable woman.

"Senator Kinsey disagrees." Morgana spat

President Bartlett was impressed with how much contempt she could put into two words. He also realised he had a lot of repair work to do on behalf of Christianity and Earth Religion in general. Robert Kinsey was going to hear from him as soon as he returned from Kaitain. "Perhaps but Robert Kinsey represents the most extreme form of faith that many despise. Most of the faithful are decent hard working and care deeply for others. We will of course explain our faith to any who ask but we will not force it on anyone. Not in the civilised nations in any case."

Morgana softened. "You would do well to have more of these people represent you to the rest of the galaxy, your reputation would improve a great deal."

Having met Robert Kinsey and other extremists that even the religious right found distasteful on many occasions President Bartlett could not help but agree.

* * *

**RHS **_**Medstar One**_ – **Earth Orbit**

"That's it"

"This way"

"Everything's going to be fine"

"You'll be back home before you know it"

Guinevere Albion was pleased that the medical staff were treating the refugees with kid gloves, they had never even been in an Earth car before let a lone an interstellar space ship. If only the same could be said of her friend.

"Move along there." Wyatt Halliwell growled at one of the stronger men who had stopped near one of the computer terminals. He had been placed in charge of the ship's space marine contingent arriving by stargate only a few hours ago along with reinforcements. After all no one had any idea what the situation was on Edora except that it had been hammered by meteors large enough to bury and partially melt a stargate. Anything could have happened to the local population that required more power than the local population and ships crew were capable of giving. Currently though the space marine contingent was bored so Wyatt had them practising their counter intelligence skills.

"Wyatt I doubt he even knows what a button is let alone a touch screen computer terminal." Gwen remarked exasperatedly. "Besides he doesn't even read galactic basic so how is he going to operate it?"

"You must expect the unexpected Gwen." Wyatt replied haughtily fixing his eyes on a new target. "A Goa'uld infiltrator could be anywhere."

Gwen followed his eye line. "Wyatt she's got to be about 80!" She exclaimed incredulously.

"She's twitchy."

"She's 80!"

The medical staff hid their smirks. By the time they left orbit there was a betting pool on whether it would be Wyatt or Gwen who would make the first move.

* * *

**Citadel Tower, Lothlorien City – Kaitain**

Councillor Omoc sat down at the table on the opposite side to James Koren and looked superior.

"Councillor, I trust everything has been to your liking?" James smiled sweetly.

"It has been adequate." Omoc allowed with the air of someone making a major concession. "At least you are not as primitive as the Tau'ri."

James gritted his teeth and fixed his smile before carrying on. "You might be surprised by the Tau'ri these days councillor, they are advancing fast." He replied enjoying the slight frown that appeared on Omoc's face. "Since you are here I take it that you have decided we are advanced enough to enter trade relations with the Tollan?"

Omoc looked like he was sucking on a lemon but nodded, the universal gesture for affirmative.

"Very well, civilian and medical trading will be conduced by the commercial companies and the civilian government if that is acceptable? James summarised continuing at Omoc's nod. "Which leaves the two of us to negotiate for technology with military applications."

"What do you want?" Omoc asked shortly

"A better question would be what can we provide?" James replied with an enigmatic smile. "This is the piece of technology that you would be most interested in, it is the Planetary Defence Screen. All shields in this galaxy have two flaws. The first is that atmospheric interference prevents them from being deployed on the surface of a planet in any great strength as that interference alone depletes them to 40% strength. The second is the interference from a planets electromagnetic field that distorts them still further if they are projected from a planets surface making planetary shields completely useless. The Peacekeeper Defence Screen suffers from far less atmospheric interference and is completely immune to electromagnetic distortion. As such while they cannot be deployed on the surface they can be projected into orbit protecting the entire planet from an enemy fleet. As long as the PDS is operational no weapons fire will impact the surface."

Omoc looked suitably impressed at last realising whilst the GRP was not as advanced as the Tollan they were not far off. "That seems perfectly suited to our needs. What do you wish to trade for it?"

"There are several other pieces of technology that you may wish to trade for as well." James continued. "For instance…"

Omoc cut him off with a dismissive wave "The Tollan are not a warlike people, we have no interest in other military technology. This planetary defence screen will stop all of our Ion Cannons being taken out in one strike and that is all that we require. Now what do you want for it?"

James sighed but decided not to push his luck on this as Omoc could just as easily refuse to listen to his two other proposals if he pushed now. "Very well, we have captured multiple examples of Goa'uld weaponry and shield technology but we are having a very hard time hybridising them with our own. We would like Tollan help in this matter."

Omoc looked thoughtful. "I Assumed you would have asked for Ion Cannons." He said, obviously surprised.

"If I had I have no doubt you would have walked straight out that door." James replied. "This is the best all around. Our weapons and defence screens power are increased and your hands are clean as you are not providing any Tollan knowledge, your just speeding up what we would be able to do anyway."

"The trade is fair." Omoc said after a moments pause before starting to rise. "If there is nothing else?"

"Actually I have two more proposals." James replied enjoying the look of frustration that came over Omoc's face as he sat back down. "We have obtained multiple examples of Alteran drone weapons and are working to reverse engineer them. However it is slow going, if you would be willing to aid us we would be perfectly happy to share the technology with you and give you a weapon more potent than even your own Ion Cannons."

Omoc pursed his lips as he considered the proposal. The Tollan were as advanced as the Alterans were at the start of their reign as shown by the stargate of entirely Tollan manufacture in their capitol but with no examples to work with they had never been able to recreate the formidable Alteran Drone. "I am personally against this." Omoc thought to himself "But as it is Alteran technology I cannot make the decision myself. I will have to ask the entire curia." "Very well." He said aloud. "I will take your request to the Curia. They will debate and decide on the appropriate course of action. Your final proposal?"

"The GRP finds itself in need of a great number of Stargates." James summarised. "We could scavenge a significant number however there is the security issue of them being able to be dialled by any other stargate anywhere. If the Tollan are amicable we would like you to construct for us Stargates that can only be dialled by another Tollan manufactured stargate and that have a built in energy field version of the Tau'ri's Iris. One that could prevent even your phase shift technology from passing through."

"Stargates are very difficult to produce." Omoc haggled. "They would cost us 6 million denari each to construct."

"You would soon have a production line up and running, 1 million denari each." James countered.

"They will take a lot of resources, ¬4million"

"Your construction processes are automated though, ¬2million"

"We will be providing you with a significant tactical advantage ¬3million"

"With over a million member worlds we will be providing you with a significant amount of cash, ¬2.5million"

"Done"

* * *

**Citadel Tower, Arthur Pendragon's Personal Chambers – Kaitain**

All of the leaders of the GRP had private chambers that were more like fully furnished apartments attached to their offices which pretty much showed how much of a chance they had to make it home during the week. Currently Arthur was standing in front of the mirror trying to get his favorate jacket to sit right. It was actually sitting perfectly but it gave him something to do with his hands allowing him to hide the nervousness that he would never admit to.

"You look fine." Merlin said exasperatedly as he entered the room.

"Merlin! Don't you know anything? I look stunning, handsome, gorgeous and masculine but never just fine!" Arthur declared.

"Yes sire." Merlin replied struggling to keep a straight face. "And don't worry about today, you'll be perfect."

"I'm a prince Merlin, I'm always perfect!" Arthur replied giving his friend a friendly punch on the shoulder.

Merlin caught his arm. "Seriously, you'll do fine. I believe in you." He whispered quickly.

"Thanks." Arthur replied sincerely his inner vulnerability showing for a moment. "Besides I'm standing next to you so at least I know I wont be the biggest idiot there eh Merlin?"

Merlin rolled his eyes and chuckled a little as he left the room, Arthur was back on form.

* * *

Well this story has now passed the 100,000 words milestone. How about some congratulatory reviews?. Thoughts on the chapter are always welcome as are suggestions on what you think I could do better on.


	22. A Presidential Visit

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

**Tomcat1701: **By the other shoe dropping if you mean things begin to go wrong for the GRP then yes that is actually beginning in this chapter, if you mean the Tau'ri and GRP becoming allies but competitive and hostile like the original Tok'ra/Tau'ri and the current US/Europe relationships there is still a little more time to go before that starts, mostly after the end of season 3 when the Tau'ri's warships are delivered. Hope you keep reading and reviewing!

* * *

**Chapter 22: A Presidential Visit**

**Stargate Command, Gate room**** – Earth**

"Chevron 6 encoded." Sgt. Harriman called out as President Bartlett stood at the foot of the ramp leading to the stargate with his secret service detail.

"Chevron 7 locked."

General Hammond had a smile on his face as he watched the president and his secret service agents reel back in shock an awe at the unstable vortex that exploded out of the stargate before settling back into a stable event horizon.

"Now that is impressive." President Bartlett murmured to Ron Butterfield, the head of the secret service.

"Yes Mr President" the usually unflappable Agent Butterfield whispered back in awe.

"Starbase _Isenguard _signals all clear sir you may depart at your pleasure." General Hammond said after receiving a nod from Sgt. Harriman.

"Thank you George." President Bartlett replied absentmindedly as he ascended the ramp still in awe of the Stargate.

General Hammond sighed in relief as President Bartlett and the last of his secret service detail went through the stargate. He turned to head back to his office when suddenly the stargate began to activate again.

"Unscheduled off world activation!" Sgt. Harriman called out over sirens as the titanium/trinium iris slammed closed protecting Earth from attack.

General Hammond turned and stopped at the base of the ramp so as not to get in the way of the multinational security teams that were pouring into the gate room to defend against attack should the iris fail.

"It's Master Bratac's IDC sir." Sgt. Harriman called out after a comments pause.

"Open the iris." General Hammond ordered as the troops around him relaxed slightly

They soon became fully alert again as Master Bratac stepped through the stargate supporting a heavily injured Jaffa covered in blood. "Please, help him." Master Bratac called out to the shocked occupants of the gate room.

* * *

**Intellige****nce Directorate Command Ship Shu'ria – Kaitain System**

Due to their nature it had been discovered through trial and error that is was always best for the Intelligence Director and the majority of the Intelligence Directorate's most important resources to be kept on the move for the simple reason that it is more difficult to hit a moving target than a stationary one. For this reason the headquarters of the Intelligence Directorate were aboard the specially designed mother ship Shu'ria that followed a completely random course around the Kaitain system and once they had been founded this course would be expanded to include the four new colonies as well. The point of this was to render the likelihood of anyone discovering the location of the leadership of the GRP's intelligence service and decapitating it as a prelude to a military strike extremely remote. That is not to say that it made such an occurrence impossible.

Director Tal Shiar stat in the command chair on the Shu'ria's bridge as she frowned at the report from the Tok'ra. It seemed that Apophis had dispatched a Ha'tak to Chulak and was searching for something. Whatever it was it was unlikely to be good for the GRP so she summoned her second and ordered that he travel to Kaitain to pump their intelligence sources in more detail. Sadly this was one of the biggest mistakes of this humans life.

* * *

**Al-Kesh Scouting Squadron – Outskirts of the Kaitain System**

The Goa'uld Daeva had been sent by his master Sokar to find the location of the technologically advanced race that had destroyed his battleship prototype and construction yard. He had found them, what remained to be seen was what he intended to do now.

Seated in the Pel'tak Daeva looked at the readouts of the Kaitain system as he planned how best to use this to his advantage.

"_Sokar is dead." _He mused to himself_ "And with him all knowledge of this mission which removes the time constrains, no one knows that I am here and so no one will punish me if I do not report immediately. Apophis will welcome me if I bring him this news that is certain. But. What if I were to infiltrate the command structure of this nation? To place myself in a position to aid his vengeance against those who would not worship the Goa'uld as gods? His rewards would be far more massive, perhaps even ships and planets of my own as a trusted Lieutenant? But how to chose? Who would be important and at the same time isolated?"_

"My lord!" one of his Jaffa called out interrupting Daeva's dreams of power "A ship has decloaked close by, they are launching a shuttle and are attempting to recloak."

"_That's it!" _Daeva thought to himself _"The System Lords to the same! Staying aboard their mother ships or in one of their palaces at random. That ship must contain this systems leader!" "Jaffa! Order the other three Al-Kesh to move to three systems distance then take us close to that ship. You are to cut through their hull without decloaking so that they do not notice us." _Daeva ordered excitedly

"Yes my lord." The Jaffa replied as he hastened to obey.

* * *

**Gate Room, PKSB **_**Isenguard – **_**Kaitain**

Arthur Pendragon stood in front of the stargate just out of range of the unstable vortex. He was dressed in his best brown leather boots and trousers and had chosen a black linen shirt underneath his red velvet jacket. As this was a formal occasion of the highest order he was also wearing his floor length scarlet cloak fastened with gold disks that lay on his collarbones.

Merlin Emrys stood by his side as always though this time he was surprisingly not fuming. Wearing the scarlet cloth shirt and trousers and a waist length scarlet cloak, Arthur had agreed not to make Merlin wear the traditional feathery hat if he would get rid of that dam neck chief for the duration of President Bartlett's visit. Sad to lose it even for a while Merlin had never the less hastily agreed if it meant getting out of wearing the feathered monstrosity masquerading as formal wear.

"He still looks unbearably smug" Merlin thought with concern as Arthur fiddled with his cloak fastenings. Anyone else would have thought that that meant that Arthur was feeling unbearably smug. Only Merlin knew that he was reaching for the last appropriate emotion and projecting it to cover his nerves. "You look magnificent sire" Merlin said playfully remembering Arthurs teasing from earlier and trying to relieve the tension.

"Of course I do Merlin! It comes naturally, to some of us anyway." Arthur replied cheekily with 'a heaven help us' glance at Merlin.

Merlin rolled his eyes but took note of the faint blush starting to creep up Arthur's neck. "Did I just make the great Arthur Pendragon blush?!" Merlin thought incredulously, smiling at the limitless teasing potential.

Thankfully for Arthur the stargate began to rotate, the vortex whooshed outwards stopping less than a foot from Arthur's face but he didn't flinch for a moment. Arthur had only one thought. "I will NOT show WEAKNESS"

"Scheduled activation of the stargate, Tau'ri identification code received, sensors confirm the wormhole originated at Earth." The control room engineers reported from deep within the starbase.

"Deactivate the iris and signal the Tau'ri that they may proceed." Merlin ordered allowing Arthur to gather himself one last time.

The purple energy field covering the stargate in an energy version of Earth's iris deactivated and a short slightly overweight man stepped through surrounded by deadly looking guards, all were dressed in smart suits that were the Tau'ri's formal wear.

President Bartlett took stock of his surroundings after the exhilarating trip through the stargate. The stargate was set flush with the floor but the floor itself then narrowed and dipped to form a raised ramp leading to the two massive heavily armoured doors at the end of the room. Heavy weapon emplacements and bunker firing slits were obvious in the walls and if Ambassador Wolsey's reports were actuate then the entire white an silver room could be opened to space via the retractable roof.

"He is certainly young" President Bartlett thought to himself as he approached the blond haired and ice blue eyed Governor of Kaitain Sector. "And the styles of clothing are as different as can be, boots, robes, tunics and cloaks are prevalent here not shoes, shirts, ties and coats." It was a fact that the president found a little disturbing. After all where on Earth did the ruling elite at the very least not wear suits? And yet the young man before him could have stepped through a time portal from Medieval Europe.

"Welcome to Kaitain President Bartlett." Arthur began bowing his head. "I hope you find your stay both enjoyable and profitable."

"Thank you Governor." President Bartlett replied bowing his head in return as he took in the young man at Arthur's side. "It seems that cloaks show a certain status level as well seeing as his chief of staffs only comes to his waist where as the Governors trails behind him."

"These two Chancellors Guards and an Astarii Knight will accompany you at all times during your stay here." Arthur continued. "This is non negotiable." He reminded the Tau'ri in his most princely and commanding voice as Agent Butterfield looked like he wanted to object. "Also you will require these translators."

Merlin stepped forward, bowed from the waist and then handed a translator to President Bartlett. The Chancellors Guards assigned to work with them handed translators to their secret service counterparts."

"Why do we need these? We can understand you perfectly." President Bartlett questioned.

The princely mask slipped for a moment as Arthur and Merlin looked at each other in amusement before replying. "We are all speaking galactic basic but we are also wearing translators." Merlin clarified pointing to the pin attached to the front of his cloak. "If you wish to continue with the touring of Kaitain before our meeting then you will need it as very few indeed can speak English."

President Bartlett nodded and attached the pin to his suit jacket. Ron Butterfield looked upset but Bartlett reasoned that if Governor Pendragon wanted him dead then a dozen secret service agents weren't going to stop him. As such the translator was safe. "I would indeed love a tour of Kaitain." He replied. "It is my first time off world."

"Well then we'll try to make it memorable for you." Arthur responded with one of his signature superior grins. "This is _Isenguard _and she is an Indomitable class starbase…" The delegations followed the Governor and the President as they left the room.

* * *

**RHS **_**Medstar One – **_**On Final Approach to Edora**

Teal'c stood opposite from Commander Ivanova in the C&C of the _Medstar One. _The executive officer who usually occupied his current space being busy looking over the shoulder of the sensor officer. As the rest of the C&C were busy with their tasks Teal'c decided to satisfy some of his curiosity.

"If you do not object Commander Ivanova I would be interested in learning what made you become a guardian of healers. You seem far more suited to a warriors life." Teal'c delivered stoically.

"A promise Teal'c." Susan replied as she continued to study the holotank between them. "My brother was a fighter pilot in the Yuuzhan Vong war but he made me swear never to join the Peacekeepers. I agreed but I couldn't leave him out there alone so I joined the Republic Logistics Corps, after several assignments where I produced results where others had been stalled by bureaucracy my CO asked me to take command of _Medstar One _and ensure that she was always fully supplied and where we could do the most good."

Teal'c nodded respectfully. "A oath must always be kept." He remarked. "Your brother approves of your choice?"

"Not at first." Ivanova replied with a simile. "But he changed his tune after my ship saved his sorry ass."

"Commander we are entering standard orbit of Edora." Her XO called out.

"Very well launch our interceptor squadron and have them set up a CAP immediately and keep the flack guns armed and ready. I don't want to be caught napping if any straggler asteroids are flying about."

"Yes Commander" her XO replied as she turned back to Teal'c

"Teal'c would you please inform Lady Morgana that she may begin her landing?"

Teal'c left the C&C as swiftly as possible without running. At last they would be able to bring O'Neill home.

* * *

**Misty Mountains Primary School – Lothlorien City, Kaitain**

In a light and airy semi circular room with glass walls to give the appearance of a wall less room low tables with built in computers were arranged in a semi circle around the open area in which the teacher paced before a large flat vidscreen that seemed to be floating in mid air. The younglings sat crossed legged on the soft cream carpeted floor their desk's in front of them.

President Bartlett and Governor Pendragon stood at the back of the year one class. They had been here for some time watching the youngest of the GRP's citizens begin their journey down the path of life and Jed Bartlett could honestly say that it was a pleasure to be around those so innocent of the world again.

Aurek! Besh! Cresh! Dorn! Esk! Forn! Grek! Herf! Isk! Jenth! Krill! Leth! Mern! Nern! Osk! Peth! Qek! Resh! Senth! Trill! Usk! Vev! Wesk! Xesh! Yirt! Zerek! Cherek! Enth! Onith! Krenth! Nen! Orenth! Shen! Thesh!

The younglings chanted the alphabet at the prompting of the teacher.

"The translator only works on words not individual letters." Arthur explained seeing Bartlett's confused look.

"There were more letters there than I expected." President Bartlett replied nodding in understanding.

"English has an alphabet of 26 letters that each have two sounds." Arthur began. "But Galactic Basic has an alphabet of 34 letters that each have a single sound."

"How does that work?" President Bartlett asked interestedly.

"The additional letters provide some of the extra sounds that English uses." Arthur replied. "For instance Enth (ae), Shen, (sh) and Thesh (th). But you must remember that you are hearing the translation of another language, what you hear as JAMES (Jay ahy em ee ss) we hear as JAMES (Jenth Aurek Mern Esk Senth).

A soft chiming could be heard throughout the school as the walls gently pulsed with white light. The younglings cheerfully abandoned their desks and rushed outside. It seemed some things never changed, no matter what planet you were on.

* * *

**Edora – Stargate Village**

Delen looked up as a middle aged woman with curly brown hair approached. There were still several injuries from the meteor bombardment that had only ended a few days ago but this woman seemed unharmed.

"Are you in need of healing?" Delen asked softly mindful of the fact that many of these people had not seen another intelligent species before.

The woman shook her head but kept glancing at Delen's bone crest which ran from her temples all the way around the back of her skull. "My child and his fiancé, I would appreciate it if you would use the machine that sees inside of them and check weather they are in good health. I don't have much to pay you with but…"

Delen held up her hand. "All of the health care that you receive whilst we are here is free of charge."

The woman looked dubious. "How then do you pay for your supplies?"

"The _Medstar One _is a mobile battlefield hospital, even if we treated you all you would barely make a dent in our supplies." Delen explained kindly.

"And your time?" The woman asked. "Even the town physician whom we have known since childhood requires some form of payment."

Delen smiled "We are paid for our services by the Republic but we would not turn away any who are in need." She replied truthfully. "I myself was intended to be a leader, I was an apprentice of Dukhat himself, he who is the greatest of us, but in the last great war with the Yuuzhan Vong I went to the front lines to help heal the members of the warrior cast that had been injured in battle. There I discovered that healing is my calling and I will help everyone I can. Now where is your child?

* * *

**Astarii Enclave – Kaitain**

"Ah Prince Arthur, President Bartlett please come in and make yourselves at home." The lecturer said as they entered the circular stone lecture theatre.

President Bartlett suppressed a grin as he noticed several students with their heads down, clearly asleep, and several more with obvious hangovers. "Why do they call you Prince Arthur?" he whispered as the lecturer continued.

Arthur's face turned to stone, only the tightness around his eyes and lips showed how truly furious he was. "Camelot Sector is a monarchy and my father rules as King. I am still Crown Prince and sole heir as he has yet to disown me. Merlin, Morgana and others that left with me never got out of the habit of calling me prince and sire and sadly it seems to be catching on."

President Bartlett frowned at the disowned comment, as a father of three girls he knew that the bond between parent and child was precious and should be maintained if at all possible. No matter what disagreements they had. "Have you talked with him lately? If he hasn't disowned you there may still be hope?" he said quietly, his own strained relationship with his middle daughter Eleanor flashing through his mind.

"When he cancels the standing order for Merlin's execution for something he cant help anymore than breathing then I may speak to him. As he'll never do that I will hate that foul creature that masquerades as my father until the day I die!" Arthur hissed the fury he was giving off unmatched. The conversation was over.

President Bartlett returned his focus to the lecture.

"Remember good and evil are merely points of view." the lecturer continued. "The Yuuzhan Vong viewed us as evil due to our use of droids and themselves as good due to the blessing of their gods. We in turn viewed ourselves as good due to our respect for life and the Yuuzhan Vong as evil due to their practices of slavery and ritual sacrifice. Evil, like truth is always in the eye of the beholder."

* * *

**Edora – Stargate Village**

"Kriff" Morgana thought as she saw Colonel O'Neill striding determinedly towards her "There's no way he hasn't seen me and I refuse to run. Oh well best game face on Morgie, here we go again." Morgana ignored the fact that her teasing inner voice sounded remarkably like Arthur and plastered a smile on her face. "Colonel O'Neill what a surprise." She said through gritted teeth.

"A pleasant one?" O'Neill enquired.

"I wouldn't go that far." Morgana shot back unable to resist. To her surprise O'Neill gave a small chuckle.

"Well I guess I deserved that given our last meeting. To clear things up I was just seeing how far I could push my guards, getting a measure of them you could say."

Morgana nodded inwardly cooling, if O'Neill wasn't like that all the time then maybe he wasn't quite as bad as she thought.

"Anyway ma'am I wanted to thank you for coming to pick me up, I don't doubt Carter could have pulled my ass out of the fire again given time but you've sped up the process considerably and reunited these people with their families a lot faster. Anyway that's all I have to say. I'm going to go and eat cake."

Morgana let him go, she was still in shock.

The surrounding people noted that while things between the Lady Morgana and Colonel O'Neill were still frosty, at least hell had thawed out again. They all breathed a sigh of relief, no one relished being in the crossfire of those two.

* * *

**Silver Waters University – Lothlorien City, Kaitain**

President Bartlett sat in another lecture hall in his last touring stop of the day. To day was the introduction for the civil service students and he was surprised at the introduction they were being given, it seemed to belong to a bygone age on Earth

"The behaviour of a civil servant is paramount." The current speaker began. "In there manner they must be firm and reliable, in their conduct they must be impartial and decisive and above all in the expenditure of public money they must be strict and frugal. To serve the public is an honour, one which must not be abused."

Arthur had a look of satisfaction and pride on his face as he saw the students nodding and taking notes. President Bartlett couldn't blame him. If the bureaucracies of Earth still thought that way then things would probably be in a much better state.

* * *

**Edora – Stargate Village**

Daniel Jackson was currently with is wife Sha're and brother in law Skaara helping one of the families to repair their home that had taken quite a beating in the recent meteor shower. That was not what was filling him with joy though.

"They look so happy." He thought as Sha're passed more nails to Skaara who was sitting astride a cross beam helping to repair the roof. "The haunted look in their eyes has dimmed to almost nothing, there are no sights to remind them of their time as hosts and the people do not look at them with pity or fear. Yes this was one of Sha're's best ideas." "Look at your uncle Skaara" he said aloud to his baby son Shifu who was held in his arms. "Doesn't he look funny?" Shifu gurgled happily obviously agreeing with his daddy.

"Dr Jackson you have a transmission from Stargate Command. _Medstar One_ has routed it to this com terminal." The space marine handed over the palm sized transmitter and then retired to a respectable distance. Sighing Daniel activated it and Shifu gurgled once more at the 6 inch tall translucent blue hologram of General Hammond that suddenly appeared in his daddy's palm.

"Dr Jackson." General Hammond greeted getting straight to the point. "Bratac has arrived here with news that Apophis has swept through Chulak as if looking for something and is even now dispatching more forces. Can you provide any light on what he may be doing?"

"He is searching for our son!" Sha're exclaimed from Daniel's shoulder making him jump as he hadn't heard her approach. "He is searching for Shifu!"

"Do you know where he will look next?" General Hammond asked.

Sha're nodded taking Shifu from Daniel as if to reassure herself that Apophis had not already found him "The demon Amonet hid Shifu on Kheb when Chulak was no longer safe, Apophis does not know that my Daniel went and retrieved him. He will search there next."

"Do you know the address?" General Hammond asked.

Sha're gave it to him before wandering off into the centre of the village with Shifu, seeking safety amongst the dozens of heavily armed peacekeeper space marines there. Daniel made to follow but Skaara caught his arm.

"Daniel, when the demon Apophis fails to find my sister son on Kheb he will search Abydos next." Skaara said, his face was grave and his eyes showed his terror at being taken as a host again.

"I know." Daniel replied softly. "But the Peacekeepers will stop him just as the stopped Amonet."

Skaara looked reassured, obviously not wanting to dwell on the matter. Daniel was far less convinced. Last time the Republic faced a couple of thousand Jaffa under an exiled Queen. If they didn't do something fast then they would be facing the full fleet and army of the most powerful singular Goa'uld currently in existence and he doubted they were ready for that yet. Daniel buried his fear so that Sha're and Skaara would not see it. He needed to find Jack.

* * *

**Goa'uld Al-Kesh – Outskirts of the Kaitain System**

The Jaffa stood silent as they had since their God Daeva left them through the hull breach into the demon's ship. They stood awaiting the orders of their God knowing that he would prevail no matter how many demons inhabited the ship, he was a god and all except other gods would fall before his power. The coms system of the Al-Kesh chimed indicating an incoming transmission, the Jaffa noticed that none of the other ships in the system seemed to detect it.

"Truly Deava is a god to be able to hide his communication from theses demons and their evil magic's." The Jaffa thought wile activating the coms.

"_Jaffa you are to join the other Al-Kesh and await my instructions. Tell no one of what has happened here" _Deava ordered before closing the transmission.

Swiftly the Al-Kesh turned and headed out into deep space waiting to activate the hyperdrive until they were out of range of the Kaitain early warning system.

Aboard the Shu'ria Director Tal Shiar smiled

And her eyes glowed.

* * *

A link to the galactic standard alphabet is on my profile

I imagined the primary school to be like the one shown at the start of the film Serenity in Rivers dream

Some people mentioned the dropping in of characters with no explanation. I hope I've explained Ivanova and Delen adequately now. The revelation of Arthur, Merlin and Morgana's and Gwen's back stories will be a running theme that I hope you will all enjoy

It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds to review. Please do so


	23. The First of Many

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

* * *

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to everyone who reviewed nicely

* * *

**Chapter 23: The First of Many**

**James Koren's Manor, Lothlorien Plains – Kaitain**

Christopher Halliwell pressed his hand against the palm reader beside the main doors into the manor house. The computer registered his palm print, his DNA and his force signature as authorised for full access and the doors swung open. Gingerly Chris stepped over the threshold for the first time. The Grand Master was not answering his com and while the situation did not merit the use of the emergency com he needed to be informed of it right away so he could actually attend the meeting he was supposed to be chairing.

Chris gaped at the entrance hall, white marble with deep green veins formed squares which were divided by black marble lines with deep gold veins. It was a stunning floor which was only enhanced by the polished redwood and mahogany wall panels with gold inlay separating the two woods and a gold sun at the centre of each panel. The grand staircase was in two parts with large mahogany and bronze banisters and a deep blue and silver carpet on both sides. The two sides of the staircase formed a U shape with a massive crystal chandelier in the centre. Made of artificial diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds the chandelier scattered coloured light all around.

Chris walked forwards to the centre of the U shape made by the staircase and examined the Koren family crest emblazoned in marble and metal on the floor, A silver shield with gold and obsidian engravings formed the main part, in its centre was a ruby Phoenix in flight holding in its talons a steel sword with a red leather hilt and a golden lion pommel. On the blade of the sword the Koren family motto was engraved in emerald.

'The Shield and Sword of the Republic' Chris thought to himself. "Even the family motto he chose puts defence before attack, to never start a fight but to always finish it." Taking a little longer to appreciate the family crest that James had designed to represent the family he one day hoped to have Chris was struck by the appropriateness of the phoenix.

"James has survived a hell of a lot in his short life, but every time he emerges from the fire stronger and more powerful than before. I can only hope that the Republic replicates that success. We have been skirting around the edges for now but soon we will truly enter the fire. Hopefully we will fare as well as our Grand Master."

Chris continued through to the internal courtyard for the manor was designed like a Roman Dominus with a garden inside as well as outside. He stepped through the door and instantly brought up his lightsaber to deflect a blow to his head.

Chris had barely a moment to process the fact that James Koren was shirtless and in a pair of dark brown britches and boots, obviously he had been practicing his swordsmanship, before he had to deflect another blow that would have cut him in half.

Having grown up with Wyatt, who like James favoured the ferocity and power of Juyo (Form VII), Chris had countered by favouring Ataru (From IV) and never being where his opponent was striking.

Barely registering the purple blade that was coming straight at him Chris ducked into the swing rolling under the blade rather than away from it to allow himself to get away from the wall and fight properly, bringing his lightsaber up in a block to deflect the second blade of James's lightstaff that was coming at him from above Chris scrambled to his feet and rushed around the column holding up the covered promenade and entered into the main garden.

"A little warning would have been nice!" He exclaimed peevishly twirling his golden lightsaber as he searched for the best positioning amongst the rocks, grass sand and water of the courtyard.

"64 assassination attempts have taught me that trouble can strike without warning." James replied with a wolfish grin as he flourished his purple lightstaff and advanced on Chris. "You must be prepared to fight at any moment. You've done better than any other assistant or chief of staff I've had though, they all had their guards down when they were in my home."

"Yeh well you try growing up with Wyatt and letting your guard down, I guarantee you you'll get out of that habit pretty quick." Chris griped taking a high guard above his head as James advanced on him. He was sweating madly already.

"Why is it like Tatooine in here anyway?" James asked. "I never usually have to train shirtless but it's so gods dammed hot today."

Normally Chris would have been glad of the heat if it meant that he got to see James shirtless. "But unfortunately I'm training as well." He thought disgustedly trying to peel his sweat soaked tunic off his body. "Because the weather control grid is on the fritz. Again." He replied finally getting his tunic off leaving him shirtless as well. "Bao Dur thinks he should have it working properly again by the end of the day."

James nodded and then lashed out but Chris had already blocked. Wyatt had taught him well.

30 minuets of practice later Chris had learned to, at the price of several burns, block out what James was saying and concentrate on his physical form only. James advice rang in his ears as he deflected a hail of blows from the Grand Master. 'Don't listen to your opponent whatever they say. The erosion of will attack is how I took out Darth Sion and it is just as effective against others. Our power flows from the force, from our strength of will and beliefs, anything, even words, that make us doubt ourselves weakens our connection and that is deadly in battle."

Chris feinted right then left before ducking, rolling and leaping back up to strike at James's back.

James reached over his back deflecting Chris's blow with his lower blade before spinning round and brining his upper blade down towards Chris's shoulder.

The younger man ducked under the swing before delivering a kick to James's side making him stagger and bringing his lightsaber around to strike. Desperately trying to recover his footing and block James failed to realise that Chris's strike wasn't aimed at his body but at the lower emitter of his lightstaff. Chris's strike rang true hitting the lower emitter and causing one of James's lightstaffs blades to disappear.

With only one blade the lightstaff was unwieldy and Chris fell fully into Ataru unleashing a hail of elegant and efficient blows that James simply couldn't block, 1 strike, 2 strikes, 3 strikes. The first would have taken off his leg, the second a gouge out of his side and the third his head.

"Well done." James commended from his place on the floor before clambering back up "Drink?"

Chris nodded to breathless to speak. Sweeping his sweat laden hair out of his eyes he walked along behind James to one of the benches. Chris bushed a deep red as he caught James sneaking a peak at his bare chest when he thought he wasn't looking. Chris had always felt scrawny and unattractive when compared to Wyatt so when he caught James sneaking another lingering peek at him his blush deepened and started to extend down his neck.

"Here." James said with a smile passing him a bottle of water before tilting his head back and gulping some of his own.

Chris watched, his own water forgotten, as several rivulets of water spilled out of the side of James's mouth and ran down his neck before collecting in the dip of his collar bone.

Before he even knew what he was doing Chris crossed the distance between them and gently pressed his lips to the hollow where James's neck met his torso.

James froze as Chris's tongue followed the trail of water up his neck pausing only to place a light kiss to his Adams apple before Chris reached the source of the water trail and their lips met in a gentle kiss.

Chris snapped back to reality as James began to move. "Kriff! Oh I've just ruined everything! I can't stay!" terrified of the angry exclamations that he was sure were about to ensue Chris attempted to run. James's grip on his left arm was unbreakable though and he pulled Chris back into his arms.

James raised his left arm and Chris tensed for the blow he felt sure was coming. Which was why it was a great surprise when he felt the gentle touch tilting his face up to receive a sweet and tender kiss.

They stood together in the middle of the garden, both shirtless and sweaty, James's hands resting lightly on Chris's shoulders, their foreheads resting together. Both were breathing hard and flushed from fear and anticipation.

"Stay"

James whispered the one word Chris wanted to hear.

"Ok"

Chris whispered back his acceptance making James's heart soar as Chris leaned in to claim another kiss.

If Chris was surprised when James melted into the kiss, circling his arms around Chris's neck and pressing their bare chests together he was knocked senseless when James opened his mouth giving Chris's tongue entrance, letting him take the lead. Giving him control.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" Chris chanted to himself as he circled his arms up James's back pulling them flush against each other. "He's giving me control! Me!"

All his life Chris had been one step behind Wyatt, all his life he had wanted to take the lead.

All his life James had wanted nothing more than to be loved, all his life he had wanted to give control, to give himself to someone who loved him and cared for him.

The two of them could not have been more perfect together.

* * *

**PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**War Room**

The war room was buried in the very centre of the starbase and it was from here that the entire Peacekeeper Armada and Grand Army of the Republic was controlled in times of war.

The war room was circular with the staff and analysts seated around the outside or the room with their computer terminals. Directly opposite the door was a massive floor to ceiling vidscreen to display close ups but the most spectacular thing about the war room was its floor. Beginning just inside the ring of desks and covering practically the entire floor of the massive room was a strengthened vidscreen that displayed the entire galaxy. The advisors using the war room could walk over it and see the strategic situation in once glance before ordering the tactical view of certain sectors and if required it could be projected as a hologram, the war room was the envy of many Galactic Alliance commander.

Standing in the centre of the war room was the deputy director of intelligence, the Taelon Zo'or.

Zo'or appeared to be a androgynous, hairless and slender humanoid with pale mottled skin. In fact this as well as his blue jumpsuit was an artificial façade that Taelons projected when amongst other species. In their true form they were still humanoid but were translucent blue beings of almost pure energy.

Zo'or was known for his calculating and ruthless nature as well as his arrogant and condescending manner but then he had every right to be as he was the up and coming star of the Intelligence Directorate. Though he sometimes had to be reminded of the limits on his methods, usually by his parent Da'an with whom he had a strained but loving relationship, no one got results like Zo'or.

Zo'or looked around the war room noting that General Santiago, Admiral Jha'dur and Council Master Rand were already present. "Grand Master Koren is running late." He griped his resonant voice pitched to high for a male but to low for a female.

Just as he finished speaking the war room doors opened and James Koren entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late." In fact James did not look sorry at all, indeed he had a stupid grin fixed on his face and seemed to be literally bouncing with each step.

"Yes. Well. Now that we are all here we can begin." Zo'or stammered nonplussed by the shear joy and love of life pouring off the usually publicly reserved Grand Master. "Intelligence sources have concluded that Apophis is searching for the son of his host and the former host of Amonet, the child Shifu."

"What business is it of ours then?" General Santiago asked. "He is the son of Daniel Jackson, the SGC will be able to keep him safe."

"It is our problem." Zo'or spoke condescendingly. "Because having searched Chulak Apophis will soon search Abydos and discover our presence there."

The war room went silent as the assembled members absorbed that information.

"Even if we are able to successfully hide our presence Abydos is exceedingly rich in naquada." Zo'or continued "No Goa'uld currently claims it because they all believe it is part of someone else's territory. If Apophis conducts and in depth search then…" Zo'or trailed off as they all realised that the deception would not hold.

"Is there any way we can get him to stop searching?" Atton asked.

"No." James replied. "If Apophis has decided to find the child he will continue until he has him or reports of his demise."

"I will prepare the Armada to meet Apophis's fleet in battle." Jha'dur stated warily.

"That will not be necessary." Zo'or stated smugly. His entire baring changed as he walked to the centre of the war room. Taelons were very ridged but moved with grace and elegance. Movements of the arms, hands and fingers were also integral to their language and they continued to make the movements even when speaking galactic standard.

"We have one chance to avoid open war." he said as the map changed to show a group of planets with attached Tok'ra intelligence files saying that they were strip mined by the Goa'uld until they were exhausted. This is the planet Kheb, it is feared by all Goa'uld since many who venture there do not return. It is here that Amonet originally hid the child and this is the only planet that Apophis will search before Abydos. If we ambush his search forces here relying on Kehb's myth to claim credit for their destruction he may give up the search. Especially if we engineer reports of a child's death for his ground troops to take back to him."

"What is Apophis likely to send?" Admiral Jha'dur questioned.

"Our intelligence sources and the Tok'ra agree that he will send one Ha'tak class capitol ship along with its full compliment of Al-Kesh, udajeet and troops." Zo'or summarised. "The same forces he sent to scout Chulak."

"All right then, the First Strike Group will be ready to meet them." Atton summarised.

"No." James stated shortly before causing the map to zoom out until it showed Kaitain at one edge and Kheb at the other. "Look at the route our forces will have to take, it skirts far to close to the edge of both Bastet's and Lord Yu's territory's. There is no way in the galaxy that a full strike group is going to go unnoticed. We will have to send a Pentacan."

"If Apophis sends more than one Ha'tak a single Pentacan will not be sufficient to destroy his scout force!" Jha'dur countered hotly.

James looked at Zo'or. "Apophis has not used more than one Ha'tak to search so far. Also the myth of Kehb should discourage him from sending a large force lest he lose it. The directorate and the Tok'ra are in agreement, he will send only one Ha'tak." The Taelon reiterated glaring at Jha'dur.

"Alright." James decided. "We will send one Pentacan to meet Apophis's forces at Kheb. The risk of discovery is judged to be greater than that of Apophis sending a larger scouting force than expected. Unless you want to overrule me?"

It was clear that Jha'dur disagreed with him but she would need the support of Corazon and Atton to overrule him. She looked at both. Atton shook his head and Corazon looked away.

"Very well Grand Master I shall dispatch the PKC _Starlight's _Pentacan immediately." Admiral Jha'dur replied with the air of someone carrying out orders they disagreed with.

As soon as it became clear that the meeting was over everyone headed out of the war room.

Except for Atton who grabbed the still sparkling James by the wrist and pulled him towards his office at the speed of light.

* * *

**Governor Pendragon's Office, Citadel Tower – Kaitain**

After his tour President Bartlett had retired to the Governors office with only his chief agent Ron Butterfield. Governor Pendragon had joined him with only Merlin Emrys, the remainder of their guards were outside the room attempting to intimidate Arthur's secretary and failing miserably as the middle aged battleaxe glared at them from behind her desk making them all feel like they were back in school.

The stargate project is getting more and more difficult to hide." President Bartlett said deciding to get right to the point. "I was told you had an idea you thought could help us to reveal alien life without revealing the stargate itself letting us soften the blow."

Arthur smiled and relaxed in his chair. "The idea is to take an old Vasudan cargo ship, make it look as if the crew abandoned ship after their convoy was ambushed and then have it crash land on Earth on auto pilot. Vasudan ships are undoubtedly alien but with a bit of work humans can understand and operate them."

"With a basic history onboard." Merlin took over. "As well as the ship itself there would be no way to refute it's authenticity. The world would know of aliens and a lot of the groundwork that you need to lay to reveal the stargate project will be able to begin."

"It will also allow you to unveil the existence of the Confederate Nations of Earth and other measures before people realise that you can get to another planet by simply stepping through a ring. If the CNE is established from the outset when not many will wish to join due to the supposed expense of space travel then it's authority in off world matters will be absolute by the time you unveil the stargate." Arthur concluded.

President Bartlett had heard the same from his negotiators and had been considering it for months. The shear size and technological power of Kaitain had convinced him that Earth had to grow if they didn't want to be left behind. He took a file from his briefcase and presented it to Arthur Pendragon.

Inside, signed by all members of the Confederate Security Council was a request to carry out the plan.

Earth would never be the same again.

* * *

**CNN**

Breaking news! In joint a press statement not two hours ago Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen announced that in conjunction with the hitherto unknown company Corellian Engineering they have successfully produced a hydrogen fuel celled car. The economic benefits are said to be massive as unlike the much derided electric cars the only difference between a hydrogen car and a gasoline one is what goes in the tank and what comes out of the exhaust.

With no pollution from exhaust gasses and hydrogen being considerably cheaper than gasoline all three manufacturers state that they are halting all production of gasoline cars and retooling their factories immediately. Shell, British Petroleum and several smaller suppliers have also reached an agreement with Corellian Engineering to modify their gas stations to service the new hydrogen cars and are reported to expect massive profits. Shares in all companies are currently trading 12 points up and are rising fast.

Environmentalists are outraged that their favorate electric car technology has been rendered obsolete overnight reportedly saying that this does not alter peoples behaviour as an electric car would by forcing us all onto mass transit for long journeys.

Several prominent senators and congressmen from both parties have welcomed the new development and have criticized environmental groups for attempting to force change on a population that does not want it. an unnamed source had this to say.

"At last the linchpin of the western worlds way of life, personal transportation, can continue at a minimum of expense and environmental damage. Of course the people that would rather see us all living in tents eating grass are up in arms. Technology has granted us the answer to a problem that they have long claimed only socialist intervention can solve but with the première car manufactures of the US, Europe and Asia leading the charge the American way of life can continue unhindered without destroying the environment our children will inherit."

Boeing and British Airways are said to be looking into adapting the technology for jets to combat the expense and environmental stigma of flying. The reaction of the Environmental lobby to such news was so crude as to be unsuitable for broadcast.

We will broadcast more on this story as it develops.

* * *

**BBC**

Good evening. Here is the 6 O'clock news.

Today France has stunned the world by confirming that it's fusion nuclear reactor went online at 8:45am Greenwich Mean Time. Believed by almost everyone to be decades away from becoming operational the worlds first nuclear fusion reactor has been operating for nearly a full day without incident. It is understood that the drafting of Byss Enterprises into the project by the French government was instrumental in it's success.

Following the success of the French design the Ministry's of Energy for the US, Germany, Russia, Japan, China, Canada and Australia have confirmed that they have commissioned dozens of fusion power plants each with the first in each country due to come online by the end of next year. Our own energy minister is expected to follow suit within the hour.

The consequences of this on the international stage are still being evaluated. Aside from the obvious effect on energy markets and carbon emissions the fact that fusion power uses hydrogen as a fuel rather than uranium has forever separated nuclear power generation and nuclear weaponry. It remains to be seen how countries like Iran that claim to be pursuing power generation only will react to the new technology. Will they give up their uranium enrichment technology? Or will they cast aside any pretence and attempt to build a nuclear weapon as soon as possible? We will have more news on this issue as soon as our foreign correspondent in Tehran has any information for us.

Environmental groups are condemning the new plant saying that any form of nuclear power is a travesty and the government should be putting more money into wind farms and getting us all to reduce our carbon footprint.

Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North had this to say.

"Here is a completely pollution free method of power generation on an industrial scale and all the environmental lobby can say is that we should be investing in new wind farms that only work one day out of three and provide a mere single figure percentage of Great Britain's power as well as forming a blight on the landscape. For years we have been saying that they are fools who cannot or will not see that the so called renewable energy can never provide the energy we need and their response to turn the heating off and wear extra layers was in particularly poor taste given how many pensioners died last winter. At last we have a solution to our power and environmental problems and they foresee the end of the big fat paycheques that they have been getting since the 60s. that's the real issue for them here."

We will endeavour to keep you informed of this story as more information becomes available.

* * *

**ISN**

The protests on Naboo finally ended today when Galactic Alliance troops under Jacen Solo's command forcibly disbanded them by firing into the crowd. The casualties are believed to be in the thousands caused both by the troops and in the panic when the protesters tried to get away.

Jacen Solo was unrepentant today claiming that a similar fate will befall any who are disloyal to the Galactic Alliance.

In related news the President of the Galactic Alliance Xavier Montoya has put a proposal before the senate to double the garrisons on all planets along the GA/GRP border. The reasoning he gave to the senate is reported to be "If we cannot even trust Naboo then all planet's loyalties are suspect and they must be reminded of the consequences of betraying the Galactic Alliance."

The proposal is expected to pass without issue.

* * *

The character of Zo'or is from Earth Final Conflict who was a very fun character to watch. Though androgynous Taelons are referred to as he throughout the series despite the fact that they are played by female actors and the fact that their resonant voices are pitched to high for a man and to low for a woman.

The Koren family crest / coat of arms is High King Peter's (Narnia) shield with the red lion changed to a scarlet phoenix holding Peter's sword in it's talons.

The Koren family motto is "The Shield and Sword of the Republic"


	24. To The Death

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics is a Tok'ra Symbiote speaking. As the Goa'uld's hosts never speak their words will remain as normal. _

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

Thank you so much to everyone who supported me against the personal attacks some people decided it would be fun to carry out. Usually I'm not that bothered but it had been a bad week and I wanted some nice reviews from Chapter 23 to help me get back on the horse again. You have all been spectacular and I've put extra effort into this chapter as a result.

**Hammurabi **gave the best review of chapter 23 by pm saying how he was able to read James and Chris as person/person rather than m/m. I'll do my best when writing such scenes to try and make this possible for everyone.

* * *

**Chapter 24: To The Death**

**CNE Vulcan Shipyards, Venus Orbit – Sol**

Alaya Secura, Rodney McKay and Radek Zelenka sat around the table in the design suite of the Vulcan Shipyards reviewing the progress they had made.

"Well I think the X301 _Saber_ Interceptors are finally ready to enter the prototype phase don't you agree?" Alaya Secura summarised.

"Yes! Finally!" Dr McKay exclaimed. "I've been saying that for weeks."

"Well if we had listened to you flaw in space frame would never have been discovered until pilot was killed." Dr Zelenka replied

"Yes, well. The point is it's ready now and we can leave it to the engineers for the most part whilst we get down to designing the X302a _Trident _now that the military has finally got its head out of it's collective arses and authorised the project." Dr McKay continued.

"Quite Right." Alaya Secura commented interrupting the two men before they could bicker any more. "Now the X303 _Prometheus_ Frigate designs are well underway and the X304 _Deadalus_ cruiser designs have at last been finalised. All that remains design wise are the X305 _Achilles _battle cruiser and the X306 project."

Both of the men nodded in recognition. "We still need to test X302 _Broadsword _now that first squadron of prototypes is completed." Zelenka noted. The modifications had proven that the F22 Raptor was perfect for the role and a squadron of prototypes had been constructed from scratch and were now awaiting shakedown tests.

"Yes well the flyboy who was supposed to test them is late." McKay griped as he grabbed another cup of coffee. "Maybe he got himself vaporised using the ring transporter?" He continued hopefully.

"Rodney how could you?" Major John Sheppard exclaimed with a playful grin as he strutted into the room.

McKay started banging his head on the desk.

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

Atton Rand dragged his best friend through the doors of his office before sealing them and beginning the interrogation.

"Alright out with it. What's got you so happy?" Atton asked excitedly

"Chris kissed me." James replied with a lovesick sigh as he lounged out on the sofa staring at the ceiling.

"You know your acting like a lovesick teenage girl." Atton asked amusedly.

"Yep!" James replied happily not in the least bit embarrassed.

"You know I think someone needs to bring you back down to Kaitain." Atton commented with a smirk.

"You wouldn't dare." James commented lifting his head and glaring.

"What? Of course not! I wouldn't dare to say 'Awwww isn't that sweet'. And I would never say 'James is in love! James is in love!' And no way would I ever say…"

James groaned and tried to bury his head in the cushions to block out Atton's voice. He still had a secret smile on his face though, Atton's teasing was always funny even if you were the target.

* * *

**Wyatt Halliwell's Apartment, Miranda City – Kaitain**

Chris burst through the doors like a hurricane in a bundle of excited energy.

"Chrissie?" Wyatt asked dumfounded, unless someone fed him truly epic amounts of sugar Chris was never fidgety but right now he might as well have been bouncing off the walls.

"Hey Wy!" Chris replied. "It worked!"

The dazzling 1,000 watt grin his neurotic baby brother was giving him convinced Wyatt that whatever had happened was a good thing. Of course that still didn't leave him any closer than before to figuring out what it was.

"Chris what happened?!" Wyatt demanded.

"I kissed James and he kissed me back!" Chris elaborated his face shining with excitement.

Wyatt pulled his baby brother into such a tight hug Chris was surprised that he could still breath. Wyatt had always felt guilty about how Chris sacrificed his childhood to look after him. Seeing his brother so happy caused Wyatt to realise that not all of the consequences were bad, and for the first time a little of the guilt slipped away.

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight **_**– 5 days later**

"We are approaching the designated coordinates Commander." The helmsman called out to Commander Caleb Danvers.

"Have the Pentacan drop out of hyperspace and page Commandant Pine to the C&C." Commander Danvers ordered.

A Pentacan consisted of one _Firestorm _two _Icestorms _and eight _Hurricanes_. 5 Pentacans made up a Strike Group but due to the risk of discovery _Starlight _had been deployed with only hers, the 4 other Pentacans that usually accompanied them had remained behind at Kaitain.

"Sir we have a problem." The sensor officer called out just as Commandant Christopher Pine entered Command and Control. "There are two Ha'tak present in Kheb orbit."

"Confirm that!" Commandant Pine called out harshly.

"It is confirmed sir. There are two Ha'tak in orbit of Kheb."

"This could be a problem." Colonel Chase Tyler said ominously.

At the edge of the system the Peacekeeper Pentacan came to a dead stop.

* * *

**Kheb – Planetary Surface**

Not wishing to tempt fate by entering the temple that seemed to be the only structure on the planet the Peacekeeper Okhrana squad had hidden along the path. As the special forces of the Grand Army the Okhrana were rightly feared by any who had ever met them on the battlefield.

The Jaffa of Apophis were coming closer marching from the stargate to the temple while the death gliders from the mother ships in orbit flew overhead.

The team leader looked over to see if all was in readiness before signalling the operation to begin.

Moving through the trees in a manner that was stealthy but not stealthy enough to escape the notice of an average Jaffa the Okhrana team set off in the direction of the Stargate.

Soon staff blasts whizzed past and crashed into the trees ahead of them. Raising their hands in surrender the four other members of the team turned around to face the 20 or so Jaffa that had come up behind them.

"You! Turn around!" The lead Jaffa called out to the Okhrana team leader.

The leader turned around revealing the bundle in his arms, though actually a human replica droid constructed specially by the Science Directorate (Just because the GRP didn't construct droids didn't mean that they couldn't after all) the bundle looked, acted and sounded perfectly like the baby Shifu.

It certainly fooled the Jaffa who promptly shifted their aim lower and higher to avoid the child.

"You dare steal the god Apophis's child? You will suffer eternally for this!" The Jaffa leader screamed outraged at the heresy and disrespect shown to his god.

"Really, then what will happen to us for this?" The Okhrana leader asked smugly.

The Jaffa fired but the Okhrana team activated their Verpine personal shields. The form fitting orange barrier wrapped around their body's making them appear to glow orange just before the first staff blast hit. Even though they were the most advanced personal shields short of the 5 Bao Dur had created personally they would still not stand up to such punishment for long. They would last long enough though.

The leader pulled out a Zat'nik'atel and fired at the baby like human replica droid in his arms three times causing it to disintigrate. The Jaffa howled in rage and charged to avenge the death of their gods child in mêlée combat.

But the Okhrana team had activated their stealth field generators and had disappeared. They would not be found.

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight **_**– Outskirts of Kheb System**

"Commandant the Ha'tak are launching more death gliders and are moving to cover the stargate. The Okhrana team must have successfully pulled off their ruse." The sensor officer reported.

"Thank you Lieutenant." Commandant Pine called out before turning back to Caleb Danvers and Chase Tyler who were standing next to him at the plotting table.

"Well we're in it now." Colonel Tyler moaned. "Apophis will not stop searching Kheb unless he loses his space forces as well as receiving news of the Childs death."

"The ruse will not stand up to close scrutiny." Commander Danvers agreed in despair. "There are bound to be traces of the real Shifu that will let Apophis know he has been had. If he has time to look for them then our entire plan will collapse."

"Then we have no choice." Commandant Pine concluded in a monotone. "We must attack his space forces immediately."

"A single Pentacan against two Goa'uld Ha'tak is suicide." Colonel Tyler whispered harshly.

"Then we fight to the death." Commander Danvers replied.

"Signal the Pentacan to sound action stations and make ready the guns!" Commandant Pine called out to the entire C&C as he walked over to the flag officers holotank.

_Action Stations! Action Stations! Set Condition One Throughout The Ship! Action Stations! Action Stations! Set Condition One Throughout The Ship!_

"All decks report cleared for action, flak guns armed ready to fire, turbolasers armed ready to fire." Colonel Tyler reported after a moment.

"When the Ion Beam is charged and ready, launch fighters and have them use their subspace drives to meet us there." Commander Danvers ordered.

"All fighters have launched and have been sent target coordinates." Colonel Tyler confirmed.

"All ships report battle ready, lets go!"

_Starlight's _Pentacan leaped into hyperspace.

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight – **_**Kheb Obit**

The _Starlight's _Pentacan exited hyperspace surprising the Goa'uld forces that were already in orbit. Recovering quickly the Goa'uld began to respond as the Peacekeepers deployed.

"Goa'uld death gliders are being recalled from the surface, Al-Kesh are being launched and the Ha'tak's are turning to face us sirs." The sensors officer called out as Commandant Pine watched the information being displayed in the holotank. The Goa'uld were trapped between the planet and them and as one of the few advantages they had he intended to keep it and make them fight with their back to the wall. He began issuing orders.

"_Oceanic _and _Knife Edge _are to take their escorts and engage the second Ha'tak, _Starlight _and her escortswill engage the first. Both are to be engaged at an angle to force them away from each other and prevent mutual fire support by the Goa'uld." He ordered the warships before moving on to the fighters. "Squadron leaders Two _Tornado_ squadrons are to engage the Goa'uld death gliders, the other two are to provide escort the two groups, _Tsunami_ squadron you are to engage the Al-Kesh."

* * *

**Tsunami Heavy Fighter – 70****th**** Blue Lions**

Lt. Jessica Brown flew in standard delta formation as she watched the warships deploy. To her left _Starlight _and her four _Hurricane _escorts moved to engage the closer Ha'tak at an angle to force it around the planet and away from the other one whilst on her right the _Icestorms Oceanic _and_ Knife Edge _had split each taking their two _Hurricane _escorts and attempting a pincer movement on the second Ha'tak.

Blossoms of light directly ahead snapped her attention back to the matter at hand. Ahead the _53rd Hammerheads_ and _34th Kings Tornado_ squadrons were mixing it up with the six squadrons of death gliders. The death gliders were sending out walls of golden fire that overwhelmed standard shields with surprising ease, but their perfect formation was broken up with the tell tale orange trails of harpoon missiles chasing after them. Outnumbered three to one the two squadrons were fully engaged when they came close enough to lash out with their Subachs. Purple fire slammed into the death gliders ripping them apart as _Tornadoes_ shot through the death gliders formations at full speed. Several _Tornados_ blew apart as having transferred all power to their forward shields to survive the initial assault their weakened rear shields couldn't hold up to the death gliders that managed to turn and fire after them. With both formations disintegrating the main fighter battle tuned into a massive ball of chaos.

Leaning from her fellow pilots mistakes Jessica rebalanced her shields putting only 2/3 of available power into her forward ones and sharing the rest out amongst the other three. She gripped the controls harder, the two squadrons of Al-Kesh were going after the smaller _Icestorms_ and her squadron was going to intercept them, hpefully before they could do to much damage to them.

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight – **_**Kheb Obit**

"What I wouldn't give for a squadron of bombers." Commander Danvers thought to himself. In order to escape detection scattering field emitters and communications jammers had been installed on the three cruisers. Though this had allowed them to get here undetected and to prevent the two Ha'tak present from calling for assistance it had come at a price. The only place large enough to house them were the hanger bays and as such several fighter squadrons had had to be removed. The _Icestorms _had lost a _Tsunami_ and _Tornado_ squadron each and the _Starlight _had lost the same and her _Earthquake_ bomber squadron as well.

"We have reached optimum firing range." Colonel Tyler reported.

Commander Danvers returned his attention to winning the battle with what he did have, not what he wished he had. "Fire the Ion beam, I want their shields down as soon as possible."

_Starlight's _Ion beam lashed out slamming into the Ha'tak and making their entire shield bubble become visible. The Ha'tak's shields dropped to 80% as both it and _Starlight _opened fire. Purple bolts flew across and slammed into the Ha'tak's shields as gold blasts flew back and slammed into _Starlight's _defence screen. The battle had begun in force.

* * *

**Tsunami Heavy Fighter – 70****th**** Blue Lions**

Closing the pincer _Oceanic _and _Knife Edge _opened fire with their light ion beams causing the entire Ha'tak to disappear behind a gold bubble as the bright blue beams slammed into it. Lt. Brown paid only a cursory glance as the beams drained the Ha'tak's shields to 80%. She was focused on her job. Taking out the enemy Al-Kesh squadrons.

Space around the two cruisers exploded as their frigate escorts responded to the danger of the incoming Al-Kesh and laid down a full enemy suppression barrage from their flak guns. One Al-Kesh squadron was going for each cruiser, Jessica hit her afterburners with the rest of her squadron and went after the ones attacking _Knife Edge _trusting the Tornado escort squadron _52nd Eagles_ to intercept the 12 Al-Kesh attacking _Oceanic. _

Purple and gold bolts flew past as the cruisers and the Ha'tak opened fire on each other, she didn't spare it much thought as it seemed the Ha'tak was concentrating it's fire on _Oceanic _so she was in no danger of being hit by a stray blast.

The Al-Kesh deployed their belly turrets and began to bob and weave as they approached the flak field with the _Blue Lions_ coming up fast behind. Jessica eagerly watched the triangle on her hud as it counted down, checking she had selected dual launch as soon as the tone sounded she quickly fired off two volleys of Harpoons at the evading Al-Kesh, they flew faster than the Al-Kesh could react and slammed into it's shields.

Jessica curse as she had to pull up as her target ploughed straight into the flak field obviously trusting it's shields to protect it. Checking her hud she cursed as she saw that they had lost Beta 4 and Gama 1 to Al-Kesh turrets. She watched helpless as the 10 surviving Al-Kesh of the first squadron flew over the _Knife Edge _end ejected their plasma bombs before flying back out.

Hitting her afterburners Jessica sped after them waiting until they slowed to turn before unleashing another deuce of harpoons.

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight – **_**Kheb Obit**

Commandant Pine winced as he saw the main fighter battle take a turn for the worse, outnumbered 3 to 1 his _Tornados_ were giving a good account of themselves but they were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The death glider may gave been a terrible craft but the pilots flying it were far from incompetent. His wince became more pronounced as he checked the other fighter battle. Both the _Blue Lions_ and the _Eagles_ were heavily engaged trying to prevent the Goa'uld Al-Kesh from destroying his light cruisers.

Cursing he hit the com. "_Raptor_ leader you are ordered to move to assist the _Hammerheads_ and _Kings_ ASAP."

"Commandant that will leave you without fighter cover." _Raptor_ leader cautioned.

"I realise that however all Goa'uld fighters and bombers are currently engaged. The escorts and our own flak guns will take care of any stragglers."

"Confirmed Commandant. _Raptor_ Squadron is moving to support _Hammerheads_ and _Kings_. _Raptor_ Leader out."

Commandant Pine could only hope that it would be enough

* * *

**Tsunami Heavy Fighter – 70****th**** Blue Lions**

Had Lt. Jessica Brown had the time she would have enjoyed watching the _85th Raptors_ unleashing missile hell on the distracted and engaged death gliders claiming almost a full squadrons worth before they even fully entered the fray.

Unfortunately she was busy watching the spectacular explosion created as the _Oceanic _went up.

"KRIF! KRIF! KRIF!" she screamed as the blast wave killed several of _Eagle_ squadron and one of the already damaged escort frigates. The second frigate and the remains of _Eagle_ squadron changed course and headed towards _Knife Edge _as fast as possible. Unfortunatly the surviving Al-kesh of the second squadrond did the same. Checking her hud Jessica cursed, the Ha'tak's shields were still at 62% and dispite the fact that the Ha'tak had been focusing fully on the now destroyed _Oceanic _the Al-Kesh had managed to reduce _Knife Edge's _defence screen to 43%.

"We REALLY need to get the defence screens sorted or else it'll be a slaughter every time we engage the Goa'uld!" She thought as she pored fire from her subachs into the rear of an Al-Kesh. She gave a whoop as the shields failed and her fire chewed into the engines, switching to her maxims the tungsten slugs tore through the Al-Kesh from end to end leaving it a floating wreckage cloud.

Rolling and searching for another target Jessica was stunned to note the flak fields from the two escorting _Hurricanes_ had disappeared. "What the hell are they doing?" she screamed in frustration. "There are still 16 Al-Kesh out here!"

She soon got her answer as the next volley from the Ha'tak impacted one of the _Hurricanes_ rather than the _Knife Edge. _Using themselves as shields they halted any Goa'uld fire from reaching the _Knife Edge_ as the mighty cruiser fired back with avengeance. The second Ha'tak's shields dropped below 50%.

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight – **_**Kheb Obit**

_Starlight _rocked violently as another volley slammed into her hull. The defence screen had failed a few minuets ago and the first Ha'tak's shields were still at 56%

Commandant Pine had ordered their escort frigates to get in close and fire their turbolasers until they melted but it was not helping much. _Hurricanes_ were armed with only 4 turbolasers each when compared to the _Starlight's _74 they were mere pinpricks and the Ha'tak was mostly ignoring them firing only with guns that could not target _Starlight_. Even so it had already destroyed one of their four frigates.

"Ion beam charged sir!" Colonel Tyler called out over the venting steam of a ruptured conduit.

"Target and Fire!" Commander Danvers ordered.

_Starlight's _ion beam slammed into the Ha'tak

"Target's shields are at 36% and we took out several weapons emplacements with the bleed through." Colonel Tyler reported the results of their strike in a disappointed voice. "They are rotating to bring undamaged sections to bare."

Another volley rocked the _Starlight _

"Sir we just lost the Ion Beam!"

* * *

**Tsunami Heavy Fighter – 70****th**** Blue Lions**

There were only 8 Al-Kesh left and all were being pursued by the _Blue Lions_ and _Eagles so_ as her target exploded Lt. Brown took a moment to check the tactical situation. The second Ha'tak had finally lost it's shields to the last ion beam hit but the three _Hurricanes_ had been destroyed and _Knife Edge's _defence screen had failed. At the rate the _Knife Edge _was taking damage she would be destroyed before her light ion beam was recharged. Jessica cursed every deity she could think of. Once it had taken out the proud cruiser the second Ha'tak would be free to reinforce the first one which was already giving _Starlight _serious problems.

Jessica blinked in shock as all 7 remaining Al-Kesh were blown apart from multiple missile hits.

"This is _Hammerhead_ leader, sorry we're late but the traffic was murder."

Jessica laughed as the three squadrons that had been engaged against the death gliders dove into the battle to euphoric cheers from the _Blue Lions_ and _Eagles_.

"This is _Blue Lion_ Leader, lets de claw that Ha'tak shall we? Their shields are down so get as close as you can and blow apart anything that even looks like a weapons emplacement."

Jessica happily swung around and headed towards the overgrown paper weight at maximum speed. _Knife Edge _was finally getting some support.

* * *

**PKC **_**Starlight – **_**Kheb Obit**

_Starlight _groaned heavily as yet another weapons volley impacted her.

"The forward armour is gone! Hull integrity reaching critical levels!" Colonel Tyler screamed out over the noise of failing systems.

"The Ha'tak's shields are down! Keep Firing!" Commander Danvers screamed back.

"It's no use we can't take any more of this!"

The words hung heavy in the air. Chase was right. A couple more volleys would finish _Starlight _and it would take longer than that to destroy the Ha'tak.

Caleb opened his mouth to order that they abandon ship when the entire vessel lurched sideways.

"What the hell happened?" he groaned out using the holotank to pull himself back to his feet.

"It was _Lynx." _Colonel Tyler whispered looking at the display. "She just rammed the Ha'tak."

Commander Danvers was silent. _Lynx _was supposed to protect _Starlight_ and she had gone above and beyond the call of duty to carry that mission out.

* * *

**Tsunami Heavy Fighter – 70****th**** Blue Lions**

Lt. Jessica Brown was having the time of her life. Evidently the Goa'uld didn't believe in anti fighter defences as what few they had were all clustered around the base of the pyramid leaving her free to blast the turrets off of any other part of the ship.

"All fighters get clear! Get clear!"

Jessica hit her afterburners and few away from the doomed Ha'tak.

_Knife Edge _fired volley after volley into the burning Ha'tak as if the ship herself were enraged by the last flight of the _Lynx _and the crippling of the _Starlight._ The super structure of the Ha'tak began to break apart as _Knife Edge _fired her light ion beam straight at the Ha'tak's naquada reactor.

Jessica franticly tried to maintain control as the blast wave hit. There was nothing left of the Ha'tak.

The Republic had won, but as she looked out at the wreckage of so many proud ships and fighters Lt. Jessica Brown felt bitterness, not elation.

The Republic had won, but it was a Tuzenor victory

* * *

By Tuzenor I mean pyrrhic. Tuzanor is the name of the Minbari capitol city and I thought it would make a nice cultural difference. A different battle giving the name to that type of victory.

Please review. Or PM if says you've already reviewed this chapter. I am officially back in the saddle thanks to my wonderful readers!


	25. Consequences

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics __are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all who reviewed nicely.

**Note: **changes to italics above.

**Note: **I have started another little story for Merlin called **'Destiny Is What We Make It' **I encourage anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the series to give it a read.

**Note: **changes to italics above.

* * *

**Chapter 25: Consequences **

**Former Goa'uld Temple – Orban**

The stargate activated causing the orbainian guards to aim there weapons the portal.

Dr Daniel Jackson emerged from the stargate and they all stood down before greeting the much respected representative of their Earth allies.

"Welcome back to Orban Dr Jackson." The Orbanian ambassador greeted him.

"Thanks, it's nice to be back. How is the education of the former urone children going?" Daniel asked pleasantly. One of Jack O'Neill's finest achievements had been to alter that little aspect of Orbanian society. Children still became urone but now they were taught 'the old fashioned way' once their nanites were harvested and distributed amongst Orban's population.

"It proceeds well. It is a great gift you have given us, removing the last major drawback of our way of life."

Daniel privately thought that turning kids into mini geniuses until aged 12 and then sucking their brains out causing them to revert back to toddlers was a pretty large drawback even if the children were then taught in the traditional Earth manor but he kept his thoughts to himself. Change came from within, when an outside force attempted to impose it the results were always either minimally successful and deeply resented or utterly disastrous.

"Well I hope that your trade relations with our new allies will be as fruitful as our own." Daniel commented as the stargate span to life once more.

"We appreciate you being here to guide us in this matter Dr." The Orbanian ambassador replied. "As we appreciate the list of what Earth and Optrica have already traded for and the guarantee of tech swapping once the negotiations are completed."

"This way we all receive triple what we would have anyway, it seems like a great benefit for all concerned." Daniel responded as the vortex formed.

"Indeed." The Orbanian ambassador replied.

Five figures exited the stargate. A young average man with dark hair and black and gold armour, a tall young man with long blonde hair and black and green armour, a young lithe woman with red hair and black and gold armour, a tall and athletic young woman with white hair and dazzling white armour and a man with grey skin and horns with an energy/mechanical arm and black armour.

The orbanians stared in shock. Privately many felt that this is exactly what visitors from the stars should look like rather than the rather mundane uniforms of SG1.

The tall young man with black and green armour and long blonde hair came to the fore. Dr Jackson had said that he was not the leader but he was the teams chief negotiator as he was for SG1.

The Orbanian ambassador took the lead. "Astarii Master Mical, IS1, welcome to Orban."

With that greeting a fourth nation joined the fight against the Goa'uld.

But they did it on the Tau'ri's side.

* * *

**Ixian Shipyards, Ix Orbit – Kaitain System**

James Koren stood alone on the observation platform filled with shame and despair. _**Starlight's**_Pentacan had finally returned to Kaitain three days overdue but you couldn't really call it a return.

11 ships had gone to Kheb. Only 2 had come back.

Sighing James looked at the crippled _**Starlight**_ as she was towed towards the shipyards. The front quarter of the mighty cruiser was gone, blasted away by the Ha'tak's guns. Huge rents in her hull were illuminated from the inside showing where her crew had been sucked out into space or burned alive in the terrible fires that had raged on every deck of the peacekeeper warship.

_I can't believe she's still flying. One more volley would have finished her. _

Towing _**Starlight **_**PKC **_**Knife Edge**_wasn't much better off. She was the only warship surviving to be classified as space worthy and even that limited designation was stretching it at best. There were huge rents that had been torn in her forward hull, turbolasers had been blasted clean off the ship and large craters had been blown in her dorsal surface from the Al-Kesh's bombing runs.

The fighter squadron summary wasn't much better.

_**70**__**th**__** Blue Lions**_: 25% casualties

_**53**__**rd**__** Hammerheads**_: 44% casualties

_**34**__**th**__** Kings**_: 57% casualties

_**85**__**th**__** Raptors**_: 75% casualties

"You were right. It was suicidal to send them to Kheb without support." James admitted his failing to Jha'dur who had entered the room and moved to stand beside him.

"You were right as well." She replied handing him a report. "Lord Yu dispatched over a dozen Ha'tak to his border when the Pentacan skirted it on the way to Kehb. If we had sent any more ships they would have been detected and we would be at war."

"Sometimes both choices are the wrong ones." James agreed. "But 82% casualties is still a hell of a price to pay."

They both watched as _Starlight _was finally towed into space dock. The mission objectives had been achieved. But neither of them would call it a victory.

* * *

**White House Situation Room, Washington DC – Earth**

President Bartlett entered the situation room with his Chief of Staff Leo McGarry. Already present were his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Fitzwallace and his National Security Advisor Dr Nancy McNally.

"Sit down." President Bartlett said waving his hand as they entered the room

"Good Morning Mr President." Nancy McNally began the monthly briefing on their most powerful ally the Galactic Republic of Planets.

"Well then what's changed this month?" Leo McGarry asked causing the others to chuckle a little. This briefing was never the same from one month to the next.

"The upgrade of the Republic fleet continues apace." Dr McNally said bringing up the stolen memo on the screen at the foot of the table.

SUBLIGHT ENGINE UPGRADES: COMPLEETED

HYPERDRIVE ENGINE UPGRADES: COMPLEETED

SENSOR SYSTEM UPGRADES: COMPLEETED

CLOAKING UPGRADE (STEALTH): COMPLEETED

REACTOR UPGRADES: IN PROGRESS

DEFENCE SCREEN UPGRADES: NEGATIVE

WEAPONRY UPGRADES: NEGATIVE

"They only have the defence screens and weapons left to research and the reactor upgrades are nearly complete. Unfortunately while are agents are able to gather this data they have still been unable to conduct industrial espionage against the Ixian Shipyards. The shipyards internal security is far to good at their jobs and more overt action would surely draw the attention of ID Counterintelligence." She summarised.

"They're going to put considerably more effort into those last two now." Admiral Fitzwallace said bringing up an image of the crippled _Starlight._

"What happened?" Leo McGarry asked in shock.

"That is the **PKC **_**Starlight**_. She lead a force of ten warships in addition to herself against a Goa'uld force. She won but as you can see only she and one other ship, the **PKC**_** Knife Edge**_ survived and in both cases it was barely. They suffered 82% casualties." Admiral Fitzwallace reported.

"82%" President Bartlett whispered. "We suffer 10% casualties and we call it a blood bath, civil war battles suffered 30% casualties maximum! Hell even the Russian Empire in WW1 only suffered 75% casualties and that lead to outright revolution! What the hell were they playing at?!"

"They were striking with the best they had Mr President, the **PKC **_**Starlight **_is, was, their premier warship. It just seems that the Goa'uld ships are superior in battle." Admiral Fitzwallace delivered the militaries opinion.

"Is this the sort of battle I can expect to order our boys to fight when the Goa'uld eventually turn their attention towards us?" President Bartlett asked slumping back into his chair.

"I'm afraid it is Mr President. The Goa'uld have the advantage of both numbers and technology. The Republic alone has thousands of warships and they are afraid to take them on. All we have going for us is the raw courage of our fighting men."

"Leo I don't care how you do it but I want our financial contributions to the Confederacy doubled and have the state department put pressure on the others to do the same. I do **not **want to have to send men into battle against odds like that." President Bartlett gripped the table until his knuckles turned white as Leo McGarry looked on.

Earth was catching up but they were still a kid trying to play in an adults only game. And that meant that their education was going to be bloody.

* * *

**SGC, Gate Room – Earth**

"…and so to present the Medal of Valour to Major Carter. Her commanding officer Colonel Jack O'Neill."

General Hammond stepped back and Colonel O'Neill took the podium.

"As all of you know I'm a man of few words." Colonel O'Neill began but he got no further before he was whisked away by the tell tale musical chime and white flash of an Asgard transporter.

The base descended into pandemonium.

* * *

**From: Tollan Embassy, Kaitain.**

**To: H****.C. Travell + Curia**

Madam Chancellor. The Galactic Republic of Planets has just suffered a large defeat at the hands of the Goa'uld Apophis. Whilst numerically and tactically superior the greater defensive and offensive capability of the Goa'uld mother ships caused the destruction of virtually an entire pentacan and the crippling of the première warship **PKC **_**Starlight**_.

Due to this Governor Arthur Pendragon and the Parliament of Kaitain Sector wish to express their displeasure at the distinct lack of progress being made by our design teams on the defence screen and weaponry issue. Though they do understand that we have been having trouble recruiting scientists willing to enhance the military technology of a less advanced species the deaths of several thousand peacekeepers has caused their patients to finally run out.

I am asked to inform you that if progress is not made soon then the official offer of research collaboration on Alteran Drone weaponry that the Curia and scientists are so enthusiastic about will be withdrawn.

On a personal note showing the scientists the number of body bags and wreaths now needed due to their hand wringing may motivate them where reason and the united Curia has failed.

A swift response one way or the other is required to satisfy the Parliament, they will no longer tolerate delays.

Ambassador Narim.

* * *

**Joe's Bar, Ixian Shipyards – Kaitain**

"Here have a drink, on the house." The barman handed them out to the group of crewman who's patches showed they were from the recently docked **PKC **_**Knife Edge.**_ "I hear you guys had a pretty rough time of it out there."

"You don't know the half of it." The leader retorted bitterly.

"It was a total massacre, pure luck was the only thing that got us out of there alive no matter what the officers say." Another agreed.

"Yeh and dozens of us didn't make it on _**Knife Edge **_alone let alone the other ships that went up with practically all hands aboard. What the hell were Koren and Jha'dur doing sending us against forces like that?"

The group had become the centre of attention in the bar and many were nodding in agreement.

"You know I heard from a friend who works in the war room that Jha'dur was against the deployment but Koren overruled her." Another man spoke up from near the door.

"Dam bastard threw our lives away on a whim." One of the KE crewman declared.

There was a lot of uncomfortable shuffling. While all agreed the battle had been a colossal error on Koren's part many had served with him in the Yuuzhan Vong wars and those that hadn't knew him from the history books. He was one of the best commanders for one reason, he always tried to bring his men home alive.

"Stow it." One of the few NCO's present commanded. "Everyone makes mistakes. Unfortunately as Koren controls so much his mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."

The KE group tensed at the deaths of so many of their friends on their ship and in the pentacan being described as unfortunate. Recognising the danger the barman decided to let slip a confidential piece of information he had gotten his hands on earlier. Normally he'd keep it to himself but the situation needed to be defused and this would do the trick.

"You know it wasn't entirely Koren's fault." The entire bar stilled but before the anticipated bar fight could break out the barman spoke again. "In case you haven't heard Director Shiar has been relegated to investigating supposed breaches in the planetary defences and has turned practically all of her duties over to Deputy Director Zo'or. This happened right after you guys returned and guess what? Just before you left Zo'or was in the war room under Shiar's orders."

The bar was now united in their hatred rather than divided by it.

"Kriffing ID! Cant they get one thing right?! It's no wonder Koren screwed up if he's having to work with the info those morons are giving him. He'd be better off flying blind!"

"Are you surprised? The ID has always seen us as little chess pieces to more around for fun. Who cares how many of us die as long as they keep their hands clean."

"Yeh well Zo'or doesn't keep his hands clean. I bet you a months pay they'll be shaping up under his leadership."

"No kidding, Zo'or is as hard as they come where as Shiar is as soft as cheese."

"Well at least Koren can get some things right."

The barman sighed in relief. There would be no bar fight today.

* * *

**CNE Vulcan Shipyards, Venus Orbit – Sol**

The test pilots of the **F302 **_**Broadsword**_prototype squadron skidded to a halt in the only operational construction bay of the Vulcan Shipyards. The battle stations sirens had gone off only moments before they had all scrambled to their fighters as they would have done on their Earth bases.

The sirens stopped just as Major Sheppard practically ran into the room.

"Alright listen up! We've got an Asgard _**Beliskner**_ that has been captured by hostile forces in Earth orbit. SG1 has managed to get onboard and hopes to destroy it by blowing up the engines it uses to control it's decent into the atmosphere."

The pilots had overcome their shock and were now listening intently to the mission briefing that would see the first deployment of Earth's space forces.

"The problem is that the enemy will most likely detect the several kilos of C4 arming and remove it and it has to be armed before the ship enters the atmosphere."

The pilots expressions had hardened as they realized what was being asked of them. The C4 had to be armed before re entry but if it was then it would be detected and removed, unless a distraction was provided. The more religious clutched at the crosses, crescent moons and star's of david that they wore around their necks.

"As you've probably guessed we're to distract the Beliskner as it re enters the atmosphere. Now this mission is volunteer only and I'd be lying if I told you that a frontal attack on an Asgard Beliskner was anything other than suicide so if you don't want to fly then leave now."

No one left. Major Sheppard wasn't surprised _after all if Earth is destroyed where would we go? Still that doesn't make their sacrifice any less meaningful. Or brave. _

"Get to your ships, we form up once were outside."

As the _**Broadsword's **_launched Earth formally stepped up to the plate as a stellar power.

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

"James there is an emergency transmission from Earth, it's Chief Councillor Vinick." Chris explained hurriedly having burst into the room.

James nodded sombrely and activated the holocom causing the leader of the Confederate Nations of Earth to appear before him.

"Grand Master, Earth is about to come under attack." Chief Councillor Vinick said hurriedly sounding harassed and stressed. "We officially request aid from any peacekeeper warships in the vicinity."

"I have none to give we do not maintain…"

"Oh come on! We know you have stealth cruisers in system monitoring us! Just like we have spies on Kaitain."

The admission of the Chief Councillor slammed home the seriousness of the situation to James, to completely disregard all rules of the game of nations Earth must be desperate. _What the hell have they gotten themselves into now? Must I send even more ships and troopers to their deaths?_

"The_** Phantom's**_ are not combat cruisers Chief Councillor."

"It doesn't matter nothing you send against them will survive anyway, our only hope is to distract them until they can be destroyed from the inside."

_Must more of my troops to commit suicide or allow an entire planet to be destroyed?_ _Why can we not just deploy Alpha Red and annihilate the entire Goa'uld race? So that we can defend against unseen threats like this one? I never knew how simple Kailua Galaxy was before I came to the Milky Way. _

"I cannot order my troops to commit suicide Arnold."

"They what would you have us do?! Sit still and wait for death to rain down from the sky?!!"

James sighed as he tapped information into the text portion of the com terminal.

"Here are the communication frequencies for the _**Searchlight **_and the _**Unseen. **_The decision to engage is up to the individual commanders."

"Thank you Grand Master, we will not forget this."

"We have some good pilots Chief Councillor, they may surprise you."

Chief Councillor Vinick closed the channel.

James Koren lashed out with the force reducing one of the wood display cabinets to splinters. More Peacekeeper Troopers were going to die but if they were to remain Peacekeepers of a Republic they were proud to protect and serve then there was no other choice.

Earth had called for aid.

The Republic would answer.

* * *

**Earth Orbit – Sol**

"Alright people break and attack, strafing runs only keep your speed as high as possible and make sure you use your afterburners. Remember we're distracting not destroying so don't worry if you don't do any damage." Major Sheppard gave his orders before leading his wing in an assault on the compromised _**Beliskner**_ which had just begun maneuvering for a controlled decent into Earth's atmosphere.

"Major Sheppard? This is Colonel O'Neill, were arming the C4 now before the interference makes it impossible so don't let up or the crafty little buggers will catch on pretty quick."

"You've got it Colonel, Vulcan flight, armed and missiles away!"

The Tau'ri _**Broadsword**_ class heavy fighter carried 12 potassium/naquada air to air "slammer" missiles and every single fighter just fired two at the compromised _**Beliskner**_, if that didn't get the replicators' attention then nothing would.

White disintegrator beams lashed out from the Asgard warship and began turning the attacking fighters into their component atoms.

"Vulcan leader we've just lost Gamma 1 and 2"

"Beta 3 is gone!"

"Delta wing was just entirely wiped out!"

Major Sheppard cursed and threw his fighter around desperately trying to evade the disintegrator beams that never seemed to miss. _Dam Asgard targeting computers_

His wingman, Alpha 2 had just enough time to scream over the com before his _**Broadsword**_ glowed white and then disappeared under the deadly beams.

John Sheppard was quite certain that they were about to fail. His original squadron of 16 fighters was already down to 7 and the _**Beliskner**_ had only just entered the upper atmosphere.

John continued to madly jink and slip his fighter trying to stay one step ahead of the Asgard warship which was why the scream of "What the fuck was that??!!" from Beta 2 came as a complete surprise.

'That' was purple turbolaser bolts larger than the _**Broadsword's **_flying passed the rapidly maneuvering fighters as **PKC **_**Searchlight **_and **PKC **_**Unseen **_fired furiously in support of the Tau'ri fighters as their own fighters launched.

John gaped and almost forgot to maneuver at the sleek delta shaped _**Shadow **_stealth fighters entered the fray. The _**Beliskner **_fired wildly.

"Looks like even the Asgard can't defeat the _**Shadow's **_stealth system's boys!" John called out over the radio giving the other Tau'ri fighters a much needed morale boost. Indeed it seemed that even the Asgard sensors were baffled by the capabilities of the Republic's stealth fighter which was widely known to be vulnerable only to the mark one eyeball and even that was questionable given it's black hull and razor thin profile.

Seeing the _**Shadow's **_as the superior threat the disintegration beams left the Tau'ri fighters alone and concentrated solely on trying to bracket the exceedingly maneuverable Republic fighters.

Unfortunately the _**Phantom's **_were not doing as well. Despite giving there best they were not combat cruisers and the Asgard warship was, finally managing to bring it's rear weaponry to bare the _**Beliskner **_let off three shots at the franticly maneuvering **PKC **_**Searchlight.**_

John and the other pilots watched in horror as the first bright blue ball slammed into the crimson defence screen causing it to fail, the second melted the thin forward armour of the stealth cruiser reducing it to a red hot boiling liquid before the third shattered the _**Searchlight **_into a thousand glittering pieces.

Enraged by her sisters destruction **PKC **_**Unseen **_moved in closer firing every weapon she had as fast as possible, the flak guns barrels began to glow red as they overheated and the turbolaser turrets blew up as the heat sinks were pushed far passed their design limits.

This time _**Beliskner **_only fired once collapsing _**Unseen's **_defence screen before lashing out with its screeching white disintegrator beams. _**Unseen **_glowed white before being erased from the cosmos.

John looked away. _It wasn't their fight, it wasn't there planet and they still gave their lives anyway. There were over 1200 people on those ships and they just sacrificed themselves for complete strangers._

Below the C4 detonated and the Asgard warship began to burn up in it's uncontrolled re entry.

John watched sadly as the Republic squadrons looked for their mother ships, pinging their sensors before finally admitting that their colleagues, friends and lovers were gone.

"Tau'ri leader, it looks like we could use a place to stay." The shaky voice came over John's radio.

"Republic Leader, we would be honoured to assist. Please follow us to the shipyards in orbit of the second planet, and thank you for your assistance today."

The Tau'ri fighters escorted their Republic colleagues back to Venus. The dept of honour would not soon be forgotten by Vulcan Squadron or by the SGC who had heard every word.

* * *

There are 66 people with this story on their story alert list. Can I get 6 reviews for this chapter?


	26. Close to Collapse

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics __are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all who reviewed nicely.

**NOTE: **This chapter contains self harm.

* * *

**NOTE READ ABOVE WARNING BEFORE PROCEEDING**

**Chapter 26: Close to Collapse**

**Triumvirate Observation Room, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

Christopher Halliwell felt very out of his depth. To his right stood Council Master Atton Rand, recalled from Orban immediately on James's orders, and Deputy Director Zo'or. _Though Zo'or is now the Intelligence Director in all but name. Gods dam Shiar for giving us such bad intelligence on Apophis's forces. _

Chris turned to face the door on his left as James Koren, Admiral Jha'dur and General Corazon Santiago entered the room. _Dam they don't look happy. What's gone wrong now?_

"The **PKC **_**Searchlight **_and the** PKC**_** Unseen **_Have been destroyed. They gave their lives in the finest traditions of the Peacekeepers." James's words caused everyone to look at the floor.

"I assume there is another reason that you've called us all together?" Atton asked. _As sad and important as that information is it would not have required my immediate recall from Orban. James knows you cant leave Mical unsupervised for to long or else he'll spend the rest of his life trying to figure out the natives._

"More than 1,200 of our people just gave their lives to protect Earth." James began. "Over 4,000 died at Kheb protecting Abydos and Kaitain and that is just in the last two battles. I do not intend for that sacrifice to be in vain. Our people have died trying to protect the slaves and non human races from the Goa'uld but there is a very real possibility that we will fail. Therefore on my authority as Expedition Commander I have decided to enact the following protocol. If Kaitain and all other Republic assets in this galaxy fall to the Goa'uld then the last act of the Galactic Republic of Planets shall be to release a Goa'uld targeted Alpha Red."

The entire room erupted into chaos.

"James you cant!" Atton screamed out over the noise. "You cant commit genocide!"

"The Goa'uld have done no better to thousands of races that reached the industrial era, we have every right to make them suffer what their actions have earned." _After all if you commit a crime then you lose all rights to complain when someone else commits that same crime against you. _Zo'or's position was no great surprise but he still defended James fiercely.

"There is no honour in the use of biological weaponry." Corazon spat. "And have you forgotten our Tok'ra allies and the Jaffa? Both will be killed even if Alpha Red is targeted for the Goa'uld genome only."

"The Tok'ra will be warned before it is released so that they can go into isolation. The Jaffa are the enemies enforcers, they will carry on the oppression and torture even if the Goa'uld are dead!" James shot back heatedly. "Can anyone tell me of another force that can take on the Goa'uld except for us? The Tollan, the Tau'ri, the Orbanians and the Optricans are the only ones who come close but they all lack the numbers, the know how and the will to do so! If we are gone do you seriously see those single planets taking down a galaxy spanning empire with hundreds of thousands of warships and millions of troops?!"

No one answered.

"If we do this we sacrifice our souls, we will have committed **genocide** against **two** species." Atton implored his friend to rethink this decision.

"If we don't do this then we sacrifice an entire galaxy to slavery and genocide against dozens of races, but you need not worry about your soul. The Decision and the responsibility are mine alone. Unless you wish to overrule me?" James had laid down the gauntlet. Only together could the other two members of the Triumvirate and Atton overrule him as Expedition Commander.

"I vote yes." James spoke quietly. _I already have the deaths of the entire Mandalorian race on my soul. What's two more? I can't be more dammed than I already am and I __**will not **__let everyone on this expedition die in vain._

"Against." Atton said proudly looking James in the eye. _We are best friends but I have never been afraid to tell you when I thought you were wrong before. I do not intend to start now._

"Against." Corazon spoke with as much fire as Atton. _Genocide is not the answer, I fear for the soul of the Republic if we ever release Alpha Red for __**any**__ reason._

The entire room turned to Jha'dur, the Admiral, former Warmaster, biological weapons specialist and creator of Alpha Red looked out of the viewport. She had created the most vicious bio weapon in existence and made it targetable to an individuals DNA profile or an entire species' genome. She had also been the greatest opponent of it's use.

Admiral Jha'dur spoke in a whisper. "I will not let our people die without being avenged. In favour."

Zo'or moved with typical Taelon rigidity and grace. "I shall order our stocks of the Alpha Red Bio weapon targeted for the Goa'uld genome and prepare the failsafe device immediately."

It was a testament to how hard the decision was for all of them that even the arrogant and callous Zo'or performed the Taelon movements for Regret and Mourning.

Chris noted the strange look on James's face as everyone exited the room. _I know I've seen that look before, just not on James. Where…Oh come on I must be able to remember… I… No, please no… __**WYATT!**_

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

James Koren burst through the doors to his bathroom and promptly threw up, repeatedly and hard.

Finally sitting back he let his head hit the tiles of the wall before opening his eyes. Unfortunately he was staring right into the mirror.

_My Fault. _

That was the only thought in James's mind as he saw his own refection and the galaxy burning, two entire races wiped out on his order.

_My Fault._

He lashed out and smashed the mirror into a thousand razor sharp shards but it didn't help. He still saw _**Oceanic, Searchlight **_and_** Unseen**_ going down in flames

_My Fault._

James closed his eyes as tightly as he could and tried to meditate as he had been taught long ago but all he could see were men burning alive in corridors flooded with weapons fire, screaming as they were sucked out into space through hull breaches.

_My Fault._

"You destroy everything you touch." Gabriel Willow's voice rang in his ears as it had done so often since coming to this galaxy.

_My Fault._

The dead crewmen crowded around James in his minds eye screaming in pain, screaming at him that he was supposed to protect them, screaming at him that he had failed. James removed the bracelets he wore at all times, even to bed.

_My Fault._

"You had no choice all of your options were bad." Chris's sweet voice whispered in his mind as James ran his fingers over the thin white scars on his wrists that had been hidden by his bracelets. It only lasted a moment before Gabriel's voice overpowered it driving all other thoughts from his mind.

"Ha ha ha! The young one hasn't seen the real you yet. He will soon see how pitifully weak you truly are. You didn't even defend yourself against me when I hit you how could you defend them? But you made them believe you could, you sent them into battle making them think that you had their backs but you didn't fight for them! You should have pushed the ID for more intelligence but you didn't! you should have closed the channel on Vinick and protected them from an impossible decision but you didn't! YOU ARE WEAK! YOU DIDN'T PROTECT THEM AND THEY ARE DEAD! IT IS YOUR FAULT THEY DIED! EVERY LAST ONE!"

Gabriel's voice screamed in James's ears along with the horrendous screams of the dead and dying peacekeepers, along with James's own scream under the mental onslaught.

James picked up a shard of the mirror and began to make new cuts on his wrists.

"No! Don't!" mental Chris's soft call was drowned out by the other protagonists in James's mind as he kept cutting

Each new cut brought a little more relief, the screams growing quieter as they accepted their payment in blood.

The harsh metal floor of the bathroom rang with the sound of droplets hitting it, salty tear drops from James's eyes, crimson blood drops from his wrists. James had only one thought every time a droplet hit the deck

_My Fault._

_My Fault._

_My Fault._

The screams grew quieter, but they would not disappear for a long time.

_My Fault._

_My Fault. _

_My Fault._

* * *

**Christopher Halliwell's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

"…And the Vasudan cargo ship that will crash on Earth will enter Sol System early tomorrow morning. The escort ships will also bring back the two fighter squadrons currently being housed at the **CNE **_**Vulcan **_**Shipyards**…"

Chris was currently itching to finish the meeting that he was currently chairing so that he could call his brother. He had finally recognised the look in James's eyes. It was the same sparkle that Wyatt had for months after Gideon tried to rape him. A sparkle that could be mistaken for tears unless you were told what it meant or you knew what to look for.

It wasn't tears, it was total, crushing, soul destroying despair.

_I had hoped to never see that look again after Wyatt finally recovered and now I see it on James's face? He doesn't deserve to feel that way, even the troops from __**Starlight **__and __**Knife Edge **__will tell him that. Oh James what have they done to you?_

"Excellent! Well I believe that concludes our business gentlemen if there is anything else I'm afraid I will have to ask you to bring it up tomorrow morning. I'll condense what we do have for the Grand Master's evening report. Thank you."

The others were to shocked to protest as Chris threw them out of his office before reaching for his third comms unit. Christopher Halliwell had three comms units rather than the usual two. The first was his work one, the second his private one and the third was one that accepted calls from one comms unit only. The matching one in Wyatt Halliwell's possession.

* * *

**Fort Legion, Miranda City Outskirts – Kaitain**

Wyatt Halliwell was currently facing down 12 very pissed off Peacekeepers. They were pissed off because Wyatt was beating them all at Pazzak, again.

Wyatt grinned as he beat player no. 10, Lieutenant Mathews with a perfect pazzak 20. "Only two more and I win… What's the pot up to now? Over two months pay?"

"He's an Astarii Knight not a proper Colonel they said. No way he knows how to play pazzak they said. Yeh right!" Lt. Mathews grumbled as she vacated the table letting the 11th player sit down.

Wyatt reset the game and was about to begin when his comm went off._ Dam I hope I'm not being called now. Good it's not my Colonel comm. _Shrugging Wyatt hit the deactivation button on his personal comm and retuned his focus to the game. It took him a moment to realise that the incoming call alert was still chiming.

Wyatt looked down to see his third com activating. The model was old, the type a teenager would have had a few years ago and it looked incredulous on an adult but Wyatt had refused to get rid of it because it reminded him of how much his baby brother had scarified for him. After Gideon's torture and failed rape attempt Chris had bought a matching set of comms for them that only accepted calls from each other and then had vowed to always answer it no matter what. _It's been years since I had to use it but Chris never failed me once the hundreds of times that I did. I'm not going to let him down the first time he needs me._

"I've gotta go." Wyatt stood up ignoring the shocked looks from his gaming companions.

"You know you forfeit if you leave the room right?" One called out as Wyatt left.

"I know!" Wyatt replied as he headed for the door.

"Dam he just walked away from two months pay, he better be getting laid."

_NO!!! Now I'm going to have to scrub my brain out with bleach to get rid of the image of Chrissie doing..that! There are some things that brothers don't need to know! Mind you given how many times he's walked in on me he must __be good and traumatised by now._

* * *

**Christopher Halliwell's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

"What's up baby bro?" came over the comm as Wyatt finally answered.

Chris cut straight to the chase. "Wy I need you hack a file for me."

"Now?" Annoyance had crept into Wyatt's tone

_Oh right he doesn't know what file or why I need it this instant._

"I need you to hack James Koren's last psych evaluation and I need you to do it yesterday." Chris said hoping to avoid telling his brother why.

"Chrissie hacking into your boyfriends psych files is…"

"He had the look Wy." Chris blurted it out as fast as possible.

"What look?" Wyatt asked shakily after a long pause.

"The look you had when I found you in the kitchen that night." Chris whispered.

"Are you sure Chrissie?" Wyatt asked so softly Chris could barely hear him.

Chris nodded. Even though the hologram of him Wyatt was talking to was only 6 inches high he obviously saw it.

"I'll hack it right now. And Chris? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thought that you'd use this link lightly." Wyatt knew his neurotic younger brother would agonise for days over how annoyed he had first sounded when he heard what Chris wanted. _Oh Chrissie I could never stop loving you. I'm not like dad. I don't know how he can not see you._

Chris nodded a wave of relief passing through him. "I'm sending you my command codes now, they should get you close enough to the file to hack it without bringing the entire ID down on your head."

Down on Kaitain Wyatt nodded and deactivated the comm. Before he moved to the computer he took a moment to push up his sleeves. Wyatt gently ran his fingers over the thin white scars that were scattered all over his forearms. Only Chris knew why Wyatt always wore long sleeves even in the height of summer because only Chris had been there when Wyatt needed someone. Only Chris had been there to stop him, to hold him as he cried and to make the pain go away. If only for a little while.

Wyatt sat down at the terminal and began work in earnest. _I won't fail you Chrissie._

* * *

**From: Knight/Colonel Wyatt Mathew Halliwell (XO, 501****st**** Peacekeeper Legion)**

**To: Knight Christopher Perry Halliwell (CoS, James Koren, Milky Way Expedition Commander)**

Chrissie. Here it is. I warn you now It's not pleasant reading. Just remember you've only shared one kiss, you can still walk away, you don't have to fix every body. I'll support you whatever you decide, just know that you won't have to do it alone this time. Love Wy.

**P****sychological Evaluation: James Koren**

The subject is suffering extreme mental distress from various major traumas that have never been treated or addressed.

Aged 14 to 17 the subject was involved in an intimate romantic relationship with Gabriel Willows that involved repeated incidents of domestic violence against the subject. No treatment was ever sought or offered. Feelings of weakness and worthlessness remain entrenched and unaddressed.

Aged 16 the subject joined the Republic Army in the Mandalorian wars. With no life experience or training outside of the Jedi Temple the subject was thrown straight in as a frontline ground commander in the Dxun campaign, the most brutal and bloody campaign in the entire Mandalorian wars. As well as the normal trauma associated with such an event additional feelings of incompetence, guilt and self hatred emanate from several mistakes made in the first months that resulted in a great number of deaths among the subjects battalion. The subject does not factor in his complete lack of experience and takes full responsibility on himself not the commanders who placed him in such an impossible situation. No treatment was offered or sought for the effects of the Dxun campaign or the others following it.

Aged 17 the subject's abusive relationship with Gabriel Willows ended on the subjects initiative. Reasons unknown, not believed to be because of the domestic abuse subject was suffering. Whatever the case this is the main trauma as it has resulted in the subject believing that **he has no value as a person. His only value is as a resource to be spent in support of the troops under his command.**

Aged 19 the subject was Officer Commanding at the Massacre at Malachor V. The subject carries feelings of weakness and incompetence for being unable to push back the Mandalorian Armada without the use of the mass shadow generator. Subject carries feelings of extreme guilt for ordering the super weapons use when a quarter of his own ships were still in the blast range. Subject also feels guilt and disgust at committing, for all practical purposes. Genocide against the Mandalorians. No treatment was offered or sought. Feelings were enhanced and engrained by the sentence of Exile imposed on the subject by the Jedi High Council.

Aged 20 The subject's world was shattered when the two best friends and the lover he had followed to war fell to the dark side and began the Jedi Civil War. The subject interpreted this event as an extreme betrayal an was left with no confidents or friends in the entire galaxy. Feelings of worthlessness increased dramatically.

Aged 21 The subject was forced to kill Gabriel Willows when he refused to turn to the dark side or allow himself to be killed. **Extreme guilt and self loathing was caused by this event. **Major psychological damage is believed to have been caused by Gabriel Willows in his last moments. Further analysis unavailable as the subjects mental shields are impenetrable around this event.

Aged 24 + With the events of the Sith Triumvirate and the founding of the Galactic Republic of Planets good works and the friendship of Atton Rand and others have helped to mitigate this damage somewhat. However it should be noted that setbacks, most especially the deaths of troops under his command, are likely to cause a full relapse into the negative emotions causing the subject to self harm and have suicidal tendencies.

1st of July 08:00 – Report submitted to Warmaster Jha'dur, Chancellor Amidala, Permanent Council Masters Atton Rand and Anakin Skywalker.

1st of July 08:02 – Comm activity recorded between Grand Master Koren and Warmaster Jha'dur.

1st of July 08:04 – Report sealed on the orders of Warmaster Jha'dur.

1st of July 08:05 – Report deleted from the datalinks of Warmaster Jha'dur, Supreme Chancellor Amidala and Astarii Permanent Council Masters.

No further requests for access have been received.

* * *

Chapter 27 was to long so I shoved the psych report on the end of 26. I think it fits better in here anyway.

66 Story Alerts. Can I get 6 reviews?


	27. Pausing For Breath

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

* * *

_Italics __are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all who reviewed nicely.

* * *

**Chapter 27: ****Pausing For Breath**

**Asgard High Council Chambers – Othala **

Freyr, the Chairman of the Asgard High Council sat with his fellow council members including the recently returned Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet Thor. The mood in the council chamber was bleak. Although the infected _**Beliskner**_had been destroyed the price hand been high and it had been paid in blood and now it seemed that all would be for nothing.

"Is there nothing that can be done Supreme Commander?" One of the other council members asked.

"There are six ships assigned to Othala that are combat ready. I will order five of them to sail out and engage the three replicator controlled ships that approach." The weariness in Thor's voice showed that he did not expect them to succeed.

_None of us do. _Freyr thought. _The replicators advance our shield and weapon technology beyond our understanding. Our own __**Beliskners **__require a three to one ratio to successfully engaged replicator controlled Asgard warships. They won't even have a two to one advantage, it will be a massacre and we will be lucky if we destroy one of the replicator ships._

"Would it not be better to engage them here where the homeworld's fixed defences can support our warships?" The first council member spoke up again.

"No. Even if the ships were destroyed replicator blocks would undoubtedly survive the explosions and infect everything in orbit even if they did not survive re entry. The replicator ships must be destroyed before they enter orbit of Othala if we whish to save the homeworld." Thor was succinct and to the point as alw ays.

"Then what is your plan Supreme Commander? You would not hold your own ship in reserve if you did not have one." Freyr was less military minded than his friend but he never questioned Thor's courage.

"I will leave by stargate for Earth. I intend to bring back Samantha Carter to aid us in this battle." Thor outlined his plan to the shocked council.

"Explain your reasoning." Freyr ordered.

"The Asgard would never consider a lead and copper slug propelled by a sulphur based chemical explosive to be an effective weapon yet it was precisely these Tau'ri weapons that destroyed more individual replicators than our most advanced energy weapons. The Tau'ri have the instinct that we have lost. The instinct to reach out and choke the life from your enemy with your bare hands. They may be our only hope of stopping the Replicator advance." Thor outlined his proposal.

"Very well. As Supreme Commander that is your prerogative and I do not see how the situation could be worse. Hopefully you will prove this council wrong as you have always done Supreme Commander." Freyr cut off the protests from the other members of the council who looked as if they wished to argue the point despite Thor's supremacy in all military matters. "In addition while you are on Earth will you relay this council's regret to the Galactic Republic of Planets that so many of their troops had to die to prevent a Replicator infection of Earth?"

"I would be honoured to do so." Thor replied. "Shall I inform them of the cargo ship that will soon deliver our gesture of compensation and sympathy for the lives that were lost?"

"Please do so. Good luck Supreme Commander."

* * *

**ISN**

The passing of President Xavier Montoya's defence bill by the Galactic Alliance Senate has enraged worlds across the GA with practically all member worlds showing increased unrest and dissatisfaction with the Galactic Alliance. Large and confrontational protests are already occurring in the sectors Rishi, Zhar, Antar and Tynna despite the senators for those sectors pleading with the populations to show quiet acquiescence of the bills passage.

In related news Jacen Solo has used his position as head of Galactic Alliance Intelligence to declare that the Naboo Royal Security Forces are an unauthorised military force and has begun using the Alliance garrison on Naboo to forcibly disband them. With reports that many members of the security forces were part of the anti Alliance protests in Theed that were recently dispersed by Colonel Solo firing into the crowd the Galactic Alliance Senate has signed off on the order.

It is reported that Jacen Solo will address the Galactic Alliance Senate later today. He is expected to call for the same to be done to all member worlds militaries. Interviewed earlier today the Jedi Master and head of Alliance Intelligence had this to say.

"We are the Galactic Alliance and it is the Alliance that is supreme. The good of many worlds should always outweigh the good of any one of them but when individual worlds cannot or will not see and accept this they must be forced into line. The removal of all member worlds militaries will ensure that they follow the greater good as decided by the majority and that any rebellious worlds can be forced into line with a minimum of bloodshed. After all what do the member worlds need their own militaries for except to defy the will of the Alliance? The Galactic Alliance Military will keep our worlds safe and ideologically pure even if that means saving them from themselves by force and I'm sure that the silent majority of our citizens support me in this matter."

Supreme Chancellor Amidala has issued an emergency recall of Parliament from their summer recess. The last of the delegates returned to Polaris six hours ago and Republic Citadel has been closed off from the rest of Rivendell City as the Parliament considers the latest actions of our neighbours.

The First Strike Fleet has been forced to cancel a training exercise in Corellia sector lest their presence enflame tensions in what is already a very delicate situation.

We will bring you more on this as the situation develops.

* * *

**Tollan Curia Building – New Tollana **

"Well that worked better than I thought it would." Councillor Omoc commented as he entered High Chancellor Travel's office.

"I know." She commented wearily massaging her forehead. "I never thought I would deliberately cause the closest thing to a riot the new homeworld has ever seen."

"Yes well the scientists were being to stubborn. We had no other option to get them to actually do some work." Omoc replied.

"You agree with them." Travel shot back pointing an accusing finger at Omoc.

"Yes but I also believe that when the Curia, the representatives of the will of the Tollan people, make a promise we must carry out that promise no matter what our own personal wishes might be." Omoc grudgingly admitted.

"Are the crowds still laying siege to the scientific quarter?" Travel asked taking a long drink of water.

Having received the Republic Parliament's ultimatum the Curia had decided to release images of the dead Peacekeeper troops and the projection by Tollana's new tacticians that had the Tollan scientists actually delivered what they promised most of them would still be alive. The citizens of New Tollana demanded to know what the hell the scientists thought they were doing allowing so many to die because they didn't want to hold up the Tollan end of the bargain for the shiny new planetary defence screen that had already been installed and was responsible for all of them sleeping at night again.

They made their displeasure known by forming an angry protest outside the main lab complex and loudly demanding the scientists start doing what they were paid for.

"It is interesting. Apparently some of the new entertainment from the Tau'ri involved something called 'torches and pitchforks' and when some bright spark pointed out that there were less buildings in the capitol city than there were dead Republic Peacekeepers the citizens decided to go and make some."

Travell was pretty sure she had located the 'bright spark'. Glaring at Omoc she sighed before discarding her water and reaching for something stronger.

* * *

**Confederate Nations of Earth **_**Vulcan**_** Shipyards – Earth**

John Sheppard had been suitably impressed when the massive _Firestorm _class **PKC **_**Aquataine **_and her escorts had docked with the shipyards to deliver their cargo. The proud ship had had the shipyards crew in awe and brought home to them the magnitude of the task ahead of them to make Earth a interstellar power.

John watched sadly as the _**Aquataine **_decoupled from _**Vulcan **_and began to move out of Venus orbit as her escorts formed up with her.

_I'm going to miss them, we all are._

The two Republic squadrons that had helped to save Earth had been heroes to the pilots and crew of the Confederate Navy and now they were heading home along with Alaya Secura. With the F-301 _Saber _and the F-302 _Broadsword _now entering full production and the F-302a _Trident _and BC-303 _Prometheus _almost ready for the prototype stage there was little for her left to do. She had left the last design stages of the BC-304 _Deadalus _and BC-305 _Achilles _in the safe, if annoying, hands of Rodney McKay and Radek Zelenka.

"It will not be the same without her, I'll have to deal with staggeringly high levels of incompetence again." Rodney moaned as the two aforementioned scientists came and stood next to him at the viewport.

"Yes but at least it will be our incompetence." Radek Zelenka commented as _**Aquataine **_leaped into hyperspace. "We are no longer toddler being taught to walk. Now we stand on our own."

"Yes. But it does mean that we no longer have someone to catch us if we fall. It's all on us now." John reminded them of the consequences of the Republic's departure.

Both scientists stood a little straighter. Their staffs would be pushed to the limit in the coming weeks.

* * *

**The University of Wales**** Aberystwyth – Great Britain**

It was five O'clock on Friday in the quite university town of Aberystwyth nestled in the hills and mountains of Wales and the twenty or so students of the Environmental Earth Science course were in the middle of their last lecture of the week on the 8th floor of the Llandinam tower, part of the university's science complex. From the Tower's place on the Penglais campus on Penglais hill, the eastern edge of the town, the entire town could be seen out of the window along the valley below spreading between Constitution hill to the north and Pendinas hill to the south before ending at the Irish sea that stretched out to the horizon.

Max LaVedirine stumbled in late as usual and slipped to the back of the room causing everyone to hide their grins.

The lecturer removed the slide before James Cole, always a slow writer by hand had time to finish copying. He shot a pleading look at his friend Katie Worrell who gave him an indulgent smile before angling her paper pad so that James could copy it. He would be behind until a discussion held up the lecturers frantic pace.

Overall the lecture proceeded as normal everyone trying to get out as soon as possible. That changed when a massive orange fire trail soared over the top of the tower barely a few hundred meters above.

Still in shock the class crowded around the window to see the fireball pass over the town, skim the turrets of the ruined castle that separated North Beach and South Beach and continue out into Cardigan bay and the Irish sea where it slammed down.

It was low tide so the tidal wave slammed into the sea wall and was dispersed.

The students looked at each other for a moment before grabbing their bags and pelting out the door and down the stairs heading for the promenade, all except for James Cole and Jamie Wallace. As members of the uni Kayaking and surfing club respectively they had keys to the university boat house and they intended to scav lifts off the sailing club and take a closer look. Little did they know that the thing that had crashed was far more interesting than a meteor.

* * *

**BBC**

We interrupt your usual programming to bring you a breaking news story. What was first believed to be a meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere above the continental United States at 16:45 GMT. The object entered the atmosphere within the two degrees angle required for it not to burn up on decent, this would have been an incredible event with odds of millions to one against had it been a natural occurrence.

The object was tracked by all major powers descending over the Pacific, Russia, Poland, Germany, France and Great Britain before finally coming to rest in Cardigan Bay. Fishing and pleasure boats from Aberystwyth town as well as the sailing boats from the University of Aberystwyth immediately sailed out to take a closer look and it is from them that these images were captured.

As you can see this object is not a meteor but rather some kind of ship that appears to have crash landed. Theory's abound about it's origins ranging from the usual alien conspiracy theorists to a secret space project of the USA or even the Peoples Republic of China.

Unfortunately we are unable to bring you more images of this ship as jets and helicopters deployed from the RAF St Athen base just outside Cardiff now patrol the area. It is also understood that troops have been deployed from the Carmarthenshire military bases to garrison Aberystwyth, Aberaeron and Borth.

**HMS**_** Ark Royal**_ sailed out of Plymouth only minuets ago. She will arrive on station by first light tomorrow.

We will keep you updated with regular news bulletins every hour on the hour and a more detailed analysis will be continuously broadcast on BBC News 24.

We now return you to your regular programming.

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

James lightly ran his fingers over the shelves of the new dark wood bookcase that had been installed overnight. No one had mentioned how he had destroyed the last one in a fit of anger but they had all been giving him a wide berth today.

Sighing James collapsed onto the sofa and stared out of the viewport in an attempt to put off starting work. Though he worked very had once he got started it was getting started that was the problem and today he was procrastinating even more than usual.

The peace of the office was ended as Chris entered.

"Morning James" Chris called out cheerily slumping down onto the sofa next to him and resting his head on James's shoulder.

James looked down at Chris amusedly. "Your half an hour early."

"I bring gifts." Chris announced with a dazzling smile before producing a well sugared latté and a packet of chocolate covered cornflake and raisin clusters.

"How did you know what my favourites were? James asked incredulously.

"You told me."

"You remembered?"

"Of course."

"Must be nice to have such a great memory, mines terrible."

"I don't, I just remember everything about you."

James blushed deeply at Chris's last statement as the younger man snuggled into his shoulder again.

_I know you'll leave me eventually Chris, when you find out what I'm really like. But god's help me I like this, you make me feel…needed. No that's not right, you make me feel __**wanted**__ and I'd forgotten what that felt like. _In direct rebellion to his mind James's body seemed to have a mind of its own as he snuggled with Chris on the sofa before the viewport.

Chris smiled as he felt James lean into him and he let out a contented sight. _At least your inner demons have been sated for now. _Chris thought as he had noticed that the haunted look in James's eyes had disappeared when he first entered the office.

"Is this a new bracelet?" Chris asked running his fingers lightly over the new leather band James was wearing.

"Yes. I got it yesterday, it has 'freedom' engraved in it in Tok'ra" James managed to choke out the response.

Chris inwardly stiffened at the implications of the engraving and what the bracelet hid from the world. He slipped one arm around James and hugged him as his other hand lay over the bracelet, lay over the new scars that the bracelet hid.

"We have to start work soon." James mentioned after a moment. _I do like you Chris, I like you a lot. But I can't get used to this because it will only hurt so much more when you're gone. I haven't felt like this in a long time though so I think I might accept the hurt if it means I get to enjoy this whilst it lasts._

"I know, but let's just enjoy this a little longer." Chris whispered still snuggling with James. _I don't love you, not yet. But I think I might one day. Whatever happens nothing has ever felt this right. Yes this relationship will probably require a lot of work on my part but Mum always said the things that require the most work are often the things that give the biggest rewards. I think that we may just make a go of it._

Chris's warmth and affection had chased away the last of James's demons, at least for now. Enjoying one another's presence the snuggling James and Chris were soon bathed in golden light from the primary star.

Below Kaitain began to wake up and greet the morning. The night had ended

Dawn had come.

* * *

**CNN**

We now bring you an update on the space ship crisis.

The space ship that crashed in the Irish sea yesterday has been towed to the small university town of Aberystwyth for further investigation. A Royal Navy carrier group lead by **HMS **_**Ark Royal**_ stands guard over the space ship and Aberystwyth itself is garrisoned with troops from the British Army.

President Bartlett has personally stated that the space ship is not American as have all other countries with a presence in space.

Great Britain is to address the entire United Nations tomorrow so we shall soon find out who this ship actually belongs to. In an interesting footnote the address to the U.N. will be given by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II rather than her Prime Minister Elizabeth Grady.

* * *

**From: Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, London – UK**

**To: Her Majesties Armed Forces**

Tomorrow Her Majesty The Queen will address the United Nations. The results of this are expected to be explosive both domestically and internationally.

Domestically all Police Constables have been ordered to report to their stations tomorrow morning and all constabularies are prepared to implement their riot suppression program. All British Army units present in the UK are to be prepared to assist the police in local enforcement or to enforce Martial Law should the Prime Minister deem it necessary. All Army bases are to be on full alert and in lockdown.

All Royal Air Force bases are to be on full alert and in lockdown. All RAF assets are to be ready to defend British Airspace from incursions and support the Army and Police forces as needed. Requests for assistance from the _**Ark Royal**_ carrier group are to take precedence over all others.

All Royal Navy bases are to be on full alert and in lockdown. All combat vessels not already on deployment are to put to see immediately and are to proceed to designated patrol areas to protect British territorial waters from incursions. All surface vessels on the west coast are to be ready to assist _**Ark Royal **_should she require it.

All _Vanguard _nuclear deterrent submarines are to put to sea and go dark immediately.

All _Astute _class attack submarines are to support _**Ark Royal.**_

All _Trafalgar _class attack submarines are to protect Britain's waters from incursion.

**God Save The Queen**

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

"There's a call from Earth for you." Chris announced as he entered the office. "It's the Asgard." He added quickly when James's expression told him all he needed to know about the Grand Master's view of calls from Earth at the moment.

James took a moment to straighten his uniform before nodding to Chris and activating the holocom.

"Greetings Grand Master Koren. I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. I bring greetings and a message from the Asgard High Council to the Galactic Republic of Planets." The short grey being with large grey eyes and a skull out of proportion to his body said calmly.

"Greetings Thor. It is good to make the acquaintance of the Asgard. Please convey the Republic's greetings to the Asgard High Council." James replied inwardly still gathering himself. Usually a first contact at this level would be preceded with at least a few hours briefing.

"I shall do so upon my return to Othala." Thor replied. "The message I bring from the Asgard is that of our deep regret and sorrow at the loss of life the Peacekeepers suffered defending Earth from the Replicators."

To his credit James didn't show the flinch physically but Chris felt it through the force, a snap of cold fury at the beings that had caused such a great loss of life.

"We would appreciate any information you would be willing to provide on this enemy so that we may be better prepared next time." James's forceful tone made it clear that on this point there would be no negotiation if the Asgard wanted to continue diplomatic relations with the Republic.

"We shall do so. It shall arrive at Kaitain in two weeks with one of our cargo ships." Thor replied as calmly as ever.

"Two weeks? I was under the impression that Asgard ships travelled much faster and why do you not simply transmit the data?" James asked in confusion.

"The cargo ship is one of our oldest models, several thousand years old to be precise. Unfortunately our modern ships are all required to battle the Replicators."

James nodded in acquiescence. He did not intend to deprive the Asgard front line of warships to settle a point of diplomatic pride.

"With regards to sending the ship in the first place the Asgard wish to provide you with material resources to at least partially compensate you for your loss. Though nothing can even come close to replacing even one of those killed yours is not the only society that recognises depts of honour."

James attempted to hide his anticipation. "What gift to the Asgard seek to bestow upon us?"

"Due to your decision to deploy the Alpha Red bioweapon the Asgard High Council declines to provide you with weapons and shield technology. We shall provide you instead with six intergalactic hyperdrives."

Smarting a little from the Asgard's obvious ability to defeat the Republic's computer security and by their judgement of the Republic's military policies James allowed his curiosity to get the better of him.

"Why six? I expected you to provide us with one for us to reverse engineer."

"It is the opinion of the Asgard High Council that the other five will be of great benefit to Project Arcturus." Thor replied as calmly as if he was discussing the weather not the most closely guarded secret in the entire GRP.

James's grip on the table turned his knuckles white as Thor ended the transmission.

_I'm going to have to do something about that._

"How's the situation on Earth developing Chris?" James asked aloud concentrating on something other than the Asgard's complete destruction of the Republic's computer security.

"As we expected." Chris replied a slight frown marring his pretty face.

"What is it?" James asked indulgently.

"Why did you chose Great Britain to announce the existence of aliens to the world?" Chris asked puzzled.

"We are trying to decrease the USA's unassailable leadership position so having them do it was out of the question. At the same time taking power from the USA and giving it to Russia or China will simply polarise Earth as it was in the periods known as the Cold War, WW2 and WW1. America must lead as first among equals not sole superpower and to do that the power of the smaller countries must be increased."

"Why Great Britain though, why not Germany or France or Japan? Britain has the closest relationship to the USA out of all of them. Will they not simply follow the USA's lead?"

"First, Great Britain is one of the five officially recognised nuclear powers, second they have the second largest Airforce and Navy in NATO and the largest in Europe. Third with the ordering of the two new _Queen Elizabeth_ class aircraft carriers the Royal Navy is the only navy in the world besides the US navy to build super carriers and fourth the US State Department rates Great Britain's power projection capability as second highest in the world behind only the USA itself. As for following the USA's lead quite often British and American interests converge but when they don't Britain has never given in to America without asking for something in return."

"So Great Britain is the most powerful of the smaller countries." Chris concluded running the information quickly through his formidable mind. "And as the most powerful among them this will give them a prestige boost that will allow them to lead the smaller countries as first among equals in a coalition that can stand up to the shear numbers of the big three and their close relationship with the USA will make the new coalition palatable to them."

"Exactly. When one nation leads it becomes arrogant and any nation that doesn't grovel to it suffers. When two nations lead the planet polarises and everyone suffers but when large nations powers are balanced out by a coalition of smaller ones…"

"…then everyone has to work together to get anything done. They can't afford to piss each other off. That's ingenious." Chris finished with an awed tone.

"It should be, Da'an came up with it. Zo'or was in a foul mood for weeks." James replied while trying to hide the smile playing around his lips.

Judging my Chris's grin he wasn't successful.

* * *

**From: James Koren, Expedition Commander**

**To: Zo'or, Deputy Intelligence Director**

Zo'or

The planetary and military datalinks have been compromised by the Asgard. I have already ordered Greg Sanders and the rest of the Science Directorate to address this issue. However I remain unconvinced that whatever they come up with will hold against all attempts to infiltrate the datalinks by the more advanced races of the galaxy.

Effective immediately all mentions of Project Arcturus and any other Omega level classified files are to be purged from the datalinks. All record keeping and communication regarding such files is to be done on solid state paper and delivered by heavily armed courier. It will slow communication but I believe this is the only way to safeguard our most delicate information. Our computers have proven to easy to defeat.

Grand Master Koren

* * *

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	28. Taking the Plunge

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

* * *

_Italics __are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Review Responses**

My thanks to all who reviewed nicely.

**NOTE: **Some have questioned what has happened to the Goa'uld controlled Director Tal Shiar. While Zo'or has taken over the Intelligence Directorate in all but name Shiar has been placed on 'gardening leave' rather than fired. She is currently investigating supposed breaches in the planetary defences. Humiliating for a Director but for a Goa'uld who wants to keep out of sight for now…

Also as for not checking for Goa'uld infiltration. Anyone who goes through the gate is thoroughly checked as are people accessing high security areas such as the two starbases. As Shiar has never been near the stargate she hasn't been checked and as she's now on 'gardening leave' with her access to secure area's revoked she won't be tested as a matter of course if she keeps her head down.

* * *

**Chapter**** 28: Taking The Plunge**

**White House Situation Room, Washington DC – Earth**

"Are we prepared?" President Bartlett asked his three closest advisors.

"The state governors will mobilise the National Guard tomorrow morning Mr President. They should be in place by the time Queen Elizabeth addresses the United Nations." Admiral Fitzwallace reported.

"It's whether we can trust the National Guard that worries me. Their human just like everyone else and this is going to come as a total shock to them." Nancy McNally observed.

"The US Army is on full alert and ready to support the National Guard." Admiral Fitzwallace replied. "The Airforce and Navy are also ready to protect our airspace and waters from incursion."

"We've done all we can do Mr President." Leo McGarry concluded. "All we can do now is ride it out."

President Bartlett nodded before continuing. "Is there anything else?"

"The Asgard have apparently managed to hack the GRP's datalinks so thoroughly that they managed to gain access to even the Level Omega material. A fact I find very disconcerting given that our best spy network can provide us with only slightly more information than the Republic news services." Nancy McNally reported. As the National Security Advisor she took the almost total failure of Earth's attempts at spying as a personal failure.

"The Asgard can break into their computers? So it can be done?" Admiral Fitzwallace questioned.

"Yes. It can be done by a race that can shut down the entire SGC with something smaller than a TV remote and that were walking the stars when we were all discovering fire." McNally deadpanned.

"So not immediately feasible for us then?" President Bartlett concluded with a small note of hope.

"I'm afraid not Mr President. The Republic is simply to good at internal security for us to get any technical data whatsoever and getting any other type of intelligence is proving difficult in the extreme." McNally Replied.

"Well they've been through a major war and a cold war that's rapidly heating up. Its to be expected their security will be high and competent." Leo McGarry concluded sadly.

The table was silent for a moment as they all considered the changes tomorrow would bring.

"The world changes forever tomorrow. We'd better be ready." President Bartlett murmured.

* * *

**James Koren's Office, PKSB **_**Defiance of the Night – **_**Kaitain**

You know my intelligence briefing contained something interesting today." James said looking at Chris.

"What?" The ever curious younger man asked.

"Great Britain's Parliament approved the existence of their armed forces last night." James replied with an enigmatic smile.

"What?" Chris asked in shock. "They were considering disbanding them?!"

"No." James replied knowing Chris would like the explanation. "The British armed forces are known as Her Majesties Armed Forces because they are under the direct control of the Monarch. In turn they can only be maintained in peace time with the consent of Parliament in case any Monarch decides to try and imitate Charles I and disband the Parliament by force and rule alone."

"But Great Britain is a democracy right?" Chris questioned.

"In fact yes but not in Law." James replied. "It really is fascinating. They have no written constitution so everything is a integral tapestry of centuries of tradition woven together. Of course today the Monarch's powers of Commander in Chief are used on the request, read orders, of the Prime Minister as all of the Monarchs powers are but the laws remain unchanged and so every year the Parliament has to approve the existence of the British Army, the Royal Airforce and the Royal Navy. Should it fail to do so then legally Great Britain would not have a single soldier."

Chris's eyes had lit up in excitement at the prospect of such an interesting topic and resolved to talk to James about it later. Right now he pressed. "So now you've avoided the point a little longer want to let us know what's bothering you and why Zo'or is here?"

"So Earth changes at midnight." James mused looking out of the viewport. "The time difference." He said to Chris's confused look.

Chris's mouth formed a little O of realisation.

"We're sure that everything will go according to plan?" James asked Zo'or

"As sure as we can be." The Androgynous Taelon replied.

_His resonant voice is so different to Chris's soft yet powerful one, it feels wrong somehow to hear any other voice in this office. _"All the member nations all have to much to lose to break the CNE no matter what pressure is put on them from other countries or in the short term their own electorate?" James questioned.

"Yes." Zo'or replied his ridged and elegant movements enhancing his speech. "The United States retains the Stargate, Canada retains Ice Station*, Japan gains the HQ for the Planetary Defence Network, Russia becomes the home base for the majority of the planetary defence fighter squadrons, China becomes home to the power plants that run the planetary defences, Australia becomes home to Earth's first spaceport, Germany becomes the manufacturer of mechanical trade goods, new construction and maintenance parts and France becomes the producer of food trade goods and supply's."

"Wait. So what does Great Britain get?" Chris asked frowning.

* * *

**U.N. General Assembly Building, New York – Earth**

All 192 members of the United Nations were present in the chamber today. Overnight the podium where world leaders stood had been removed and the British Throne had been quickly removed from the House of Lords in Westminster Palace, more commonly known as the Houses of Parliament, and put in it's place.

The rumbling of conversation died as Elizabeth Grady, Prime Minister of Her Majesties United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland stood before the microphone.

"Mr Speaker, Her Imperial Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of England! God save the Queen!"

"God Save The Queen!" The commonwealth countries of whom Elizabeth II was also Queen and head of state of shouted back.

Escorted by four crimson robed beefeaters the silver haired 83 year old, now the only surviving head of state who had served in uniform in World War Two entered the room. Quietly and with dignity she took her place on the throne wearing the Imperial State Crown and carrying the two sceptre's, the sceptre of the cross and the sceptre of the dove, that represented her spiritual and temporal authority.

"People of the World. By now none of you can have failed to notice the space ship that crash landed in the area of our Kingdom known as Cardigan Bay."

As Queen Elizabeth was speaking Prime Minister Grady came to stand at her left shoulder. To the great surprise and murmuring of the delegates President Bartlett stepped out on to the stage and stood at her left shoulder. The three leaders were soon joined by the leaders of the other Security Council Permanent Members. Now flanked by the 5 most powerful leaders in the word, Elizabeth, Queen of Great Britain and 15 other nations delivered the words that would change Earth forever.

"The scientists investigating the ship have delivered to us one unanimous verdict. The ship is of non human origin."

The quiet murmuring stopped dead. All of the chamber stared at The Queen in shock and disbelief.

"The material used to construct the ship can be found nowhere on Earth. The methods of construction baffle the world's most experienced engineers, its computers and systems are beyond are most eminent scientists and the ship itself is designed for a species that is far from human in it's size, in it's strength and in it's requirements for life. This ship could not have been created by any nation on Earth. Since we first looked up and saw the stars humans, from the lowest slave to the highest Emperor have asked one question. Are we alone?"

The chamber was still silent as Queen Elizabeth II finally answered the question that had been asked by so many.

"Today we finally have proof that we are not alone, that intelligent life exists on planets other than ours and that God's creation was infinitely greater than we thought. May he save us all."

"Her Majesty the Queen!" Prime Minister Grady called out rather shakily as The Queen rose from The Throne.

The United Nations General Assembly descended into pandemonium.

* * *

**BBC **

Good Afternoon. Here is the news.

Following the astounding revelations The Queen announced to the world this morning the entire world has been in a state of chaos. Here at home due to major protests both supporting the declaration of The Queen and others declaring the whole thing a hoax the Police have been forced to put troops in riot gear on the streets of all major cities and a dusk until dawn has been imposed across Great Britain. Thankfully none of the protests seem to be escalating into out right riots.

The story is much the same across Europe with only a handful of cities having to be placed under martial law.

In the United States the National Guard has been mobilised and is now in every major city. Riots are taking place across the area known as the bible belt as the most extreme right wing Christians refuse to accept the existence of alien life calling the entire thing a hoax designed to destroy the power of the United States.

Martial law has been declared throughout Iran and protests have already been forcibly disbanded by the army with several hundred casualties. The Ayatollahs official line is that there is no alien ship, just an elaborate western hoax to undermine the rule of Islam. Shira law makes no provision for alien life so therefore none can exist. The Iranian population seems split on the issue resulting in large protests and counter protests that continue to spring up despite the army disbanding them.

The road blocks on the roads leading to Aberystwyth are becoming overwhelmed with the flood of sightseers and conspiracy theorists hoping to get close to the space ship. The _**Ark Royal**_ carrier group has also had to open fire on several commercial and Greenpeace vessels that refused to turn back once they breached the exclusion zone.

We will bring you more on this as it develops.

* * *

**Vatican City, Office of the Pope – Earth**

"We are certain of this?" The Pope John Paul II asked his assembled cardinals and advisors.

"Yes Holy Father, we have confirmed that to the best of the knowledge of all the highly placed faithful who owe us favours, including President Bartlet himself, that this is no hoax. Alien life exists and Great Britain has proof of it." The lead cardinal answered.

"Well. What do we do?" The Pope asked. "This will have profound implications for the faithful. God created man and woman to rule over the beasts of the Earth but where do aliens fit in? God created us in his image but why then do other intelligent species exist? Our Heavenly Father sent his only son to sacrifice himself for us but why are we the only ones to benefit from his sacrifice? Why is our world the only one who knows his word? If God created the universe and gave it to man why are other races more advanced than us?"

The assembled cardinals sat silent in the face of the Bishop of Rome's pointed and very good questions.

"Holy Father our task is clear. Genesis says that we were created to rule over all of the beasts, the bible says that Jesus Christ scarified himself on the cross for man, not aliens. There can be no doubt that we are the heavenly father's master race placed above all the others. We will use this gift that has been given us to match their technology and they we shall sweep forth from this Earth bringing his word and his commandments to all in the galaxy." Cardinal Adrical had spittle flying from his mouth by the end of his speech.

"No." The Pope's single word shocked everyone who heard it.

"But Holy Father!"

"I said no! Unless you wish to challenge my position as God's representative on Earth? My place as the Bishop of Rome in direct and unbroken succession from Simon Peter, Jesus's most beloved disciple?"

The others were silent. The authority and infallibility of the Pope was the central point of Catholicism. The Pope stood with difficulty and looked out of the window over St Peter's Square where the faithful had gathered in ever increasing numbers.

"The crusades are the most humiliating mistake in the history of Christ's church and I will not have them repeated. We will bring Jesus message to all who will listen, but we will do it with sensitivity and reason, not at the point of a gun. For so much blood to have been spilled in the name of one who would not harm another even to save his own life is intolerable! Jesus refused to let his disciples harm the Roman Centurions that came to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane knowing it would lead to his death. There will be no more blood spilled in his name. No new crusade across the stars, we will go as teachers and friends not zelots and hypocrites."

The Pope's speech had left many of the Cardinals shamefaced but Cardinal Adrical still glared defiantly.

"Come the faithful will need guidance." The Pope said moving towards the balcony. "And Cardinal Adrical? Your resignation is accepted."

As the Pope stepped out onto the balcony to address the faithful in St Peters Square and around the world he offered up a silent prayer of thanks to God that none of his predecessors had ever ruled on the existence of alien life.

"My humble Christian brethren today is a joyous day. Today we learn more of God's infinite creation, the Lord God loves diversity and his creation is simply to vast for other intelligent life not to exist. At last the existence of our friends among the stars is confirmed and soon we shall go forth as brothers and sisters of Christ to peacefully spread the world of the Lord to the stars. Pray with me."

As the Pope began the most important mass of his life the true spirit of Christianity, love, peace and hope was revealed to the galaxy. A galaxy that was willing to listen.

* * *

**BBC**

In shocking news the Pope has declared that alien life does indeed exist. He has also ruled out a new Crusade stating that this time Christ's message will be spread in the manner that he himself spread it, peacefully and with understanding and compassion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York have both issued similar sermons to the faithful of the Church of England throwing the Anglican's weight behind the Pope's message of the non violent spreading of Christ's world.

In Jerusalem leading Jewish rabbi's have also signalled their acceptance of alien life and the commitment of the Jewish people to peaceful teaching.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have begun to preach similar themes in mosques throughout their countries showing a willingness and acceptance that most do not associate with Islam due to the actions of a radical few.

The confirming of alien life has done much to calm the fears of the faithful who now look to the leaders of their religions for guidance and answers to their questions with calm hearts and open minds as their holy books teach.

The unprecedented commitment of peaceful teaching from the worlds three major religions has come as a great relief to the secular who feared calls of Crusade and Jihad would drown the stars in blood.

For too long these religions have been defined by their extremists. Now, at last, the compassionate and tolerant mainstream has come to the fore once more.

We here at the BBC welcome the change for in the coming months the extremists are no doubt going to be causing a lot of trouble and tension in an attempt to ignite religious war. All of us will remember this day when the three major religions said we have learned from our passed mistakes and the sword shall be the province of the twisted and the hate filled only.

By whatever name you know him by God must surely be smiling on his children today.

* * *

**SGC, United States of America – Earth**

The Reverend Butler had a hard time keeping a straight face at the looks he was getting as he walked through the corridors of the secret military base that he had no idea of the purpose of.

Still chuckling the Sgt. who had brought him down from the surface showed him into the base commanders office.

"Don! Great to see you! Come in and suit down." His twin George Hammond greeted him.

Having been thrown out of the family home for going into the church rather than the military Don Hammond had changed his name to Don Butler to sever his connections with his long dead father. He was still very close with his brother though.

"George how do you stand it down here?" Don asked accepting his brother's hug before sitting down. "I got claustrophobic after the first floor."

General Hammond snorted before passing his brother a drink and sitting down himself. "You've seen what's going on Don?"

"George I'm not a hermit, of course I've seen what's going on! What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want anything."

"We are having a clandestine meeting in a top secret military base that I'm not supposed to know about."

"Fair point." General Hammond allowed. He leaned back into his chair before continuing.

"The religious right is going to split Don."

"I don't think it's that serious George, sure it's going to be crazy for a while but…"

"Don. This is just the beginning." General Hammond bluntly cut across his brother.

Reverend Butler sank into his chair.

"How bad?" He asked knowing his brother couldn't tell him any specifics.

"You've got some serious thinking to do because the ones who don't move at least a tiny bit to the left are going to be regarded as the new KKK."

"Your not serious? You want us to start killing babies and letting gay's marry?"

"I'm asking you to do as the bible says, if you want to continue your political career."

"The bible?"

"Do not judge."

* * *

**The White House, Washington DC – Earth**

"Good afternoon Reverend." President Bartlett greeted as the Reverend Aldwin was showed into the oval office.

"Mr President." Reverend Al Caldwell replied as he looked distractedly at the TV where the woman who had been at his side in every white house meeting was screaming at the crowd about how God's true word needed to be spread not the corrupted liberal filth that said it was alright to kill babies and commit the abomination that was homosexuality.

"Rather shrill isn't she." President Bartlett commented turning down the volume so that Mary Marsh's hate filled rant could no longer be heard.

Mary and another televangelist had always accompanied Reverend Caldwell to the White House because he felt he needed their support. However the right wing Reverend was the only one who respected the Bartlett administration and was respected in return.

"I take it you want me to lead as many of the religious right away from Mary Marsh and Senator Kinsey as possible Mr President?" Reverend Caldwell asked.

"Absolutely." President Bartlett replied.

"I won't compromise my beliefs."

"Have we ever asked you to?"

"Your asking now."

"I'm asking you to calm people down and commit to stopping hate crimes both physical and verbal. When spreading the world of someone who welcomed Romans and Tax collectors and deplored violence in all its forms how can that comprise your beliefs?"

* * *

**CNN**

The Religious Right has begun to fracture today as two of its most prominent and respected leaders, the Reverend Butler and the Reverend Caldwell, have called for calm and acceptance just as the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury have before them.

Whilst others such as Mary Marsh and Robert Kinsey continue to preach American Christian manifest destiny the two Reverends have called on American Christians to accept our new place in the galaxy with strength and humility.

They have also pledged to continue to fight for what they believe in such as a ban on abortion and gay marriage but in a radical move they have promised to do so only in reasonable debate with no verbal or physical abuse. There will be no charges of baby killers, no calls of faggot and no gay bashings in their new wing of Christianity.

Both have already been condemned by the more extreme Christians as selling out and destroying gods message for their own personal gain.

Protests both for and against have been occurring throughout the US all day.

In a move designed to bolster support both Reverends have been invited to meet the Pope in Vatican City and the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. This marks the first time that leaders of the American right wing Christians have been granted such an invitation and the majority of Christians are overjoyed that the Reverends miniscule shift to the left has been met with such a response, perhaps it is a sign that the deep schisms within our faith may one day be healed.

Bible thumping extremists continue flock to the decreasing right wing giving it a great boost. It appears that the hate filled false Christians that spew their poison and bigotry from behind a cloak of religion will not be going down any easier than their Islamic counterparts.

We can only hope the damage they do to Earth's reputation can be limited.

* * *

**BBC**

Further revelations are made from the alien star ship today as its computers finally give up their secrets…

* * *

In an interesting side note The English Monarch is not allowed in the House of Commons so only the House of Lords has a throne. Also when summoned to the Lords for addresses by the Monarch, typically only the Queens speech nowadays, the MP's attend only after slamming the door in the messengers face as a symbol of the power of Parliament to defy the Monarch. An MP is also held 'hostage' in Buckingham Palace to ensure the Monarch's safe return. This hostility comes from Charles I entering the House of Commons to arrest his worst critics which triggered a crisis that lead to the Civil War, the defeat and execution of the King and the creation of the Republic of England.

House of Lords Throne in Google is best to see the British Throne.

* Ice Station is the R&D lab complex that replaced Area 51

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	29. A Confederacy Revealed

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics __are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Confederate Nations of Earth**

**CNE Members: **USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Canada, Australia, Japan

**Main CNE Facilities:** SGC (USA), Ice Station R&D (Canada), Gov. Contract Manufacturing (Germany) Gov. Contract Supply (France), Planetary Defence Network Command (Japan), Military Power Generation Facilities (China), Planetary Defence Fighter Squadrons (Russia), Eden Spaceport (Australia)

* * *

**Chapter 29: A Confederacy Revealed **

**BBC**

Further revelations are made from the alien star ship today as its computers finally give up their secrets, the ship is from a race known as the Vasudans but the largest revelation is that this race is part of a multispecies galactic government not to dissimilar from the United Federation of Planets seen in the star trek series.

This Government, the Galactic Republic of Planets seems to amalgamate the American Presidential system and the Westminster Parliamentary system resulting in a government both familiar and alien to us. The scientists studying the ship report that the main computer is damaged beyond repair and this information came from a history book found in the captain's cabin.

Also found in the captain's cabin was a copy of the Republic's religious document, the Path to Enlightenment. Reportedly baring remarkable similarities to Buddhism and Confucianism the Dali Lama is said to be studying it in great interest.

Reports that the end of the Path to Enlightenment mention a form of 'ascension' are unconfirmed as is the precise definition of ascension.

Translations of the historical and religious documents provided by the ships communications system are now available from the Home Office website.

* * *

**CNN**

The revelations of the historical data have sent shockwaves throughout the US today. The presence of the group known as the 'Astarii Order' has caused the extremist right wing under Mary Marsh to declare that the entire Republic is rotten to the core 'thou shall not suffer a witch to live' is being screamed at extreme right protests all across the bible belt.

Reverend Butler and Reverend Caldwell have gone on record as stating that the ability's the Astarii are gifted with are not witchcraft but rather proof of God's love in providing a counterbalance to Satan's servants, the Dark Lords of the Sith. The Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury have yet to comment.

The National Guard was called into Dallas, Atlanta and Charlestown today as the extremist right protests clashed with the Christian Right and Christian Left who, despite there differences, were disgusted at the hate being peddled in their lords name. The cities are now under Martial Law and are only a hairs breath away from being declared areas in Rebellion against the Union, a state not declared since the Civil War.

President Bartlett continues to appeal for calm and peace appears to be holding in the more secular and liberal north of the USA. A fact the Pentagon is most likely very thankful for as there are not many uncommitted military resources left.

* * *

**BBC**

Prime Minister Grady today refused Syria's request for access to the research data our scientists have gathered from the alien ship. The Prime Minister is quoted as saying that 'No nation that the government of Great Britain feels does not meet certain minimum human rights criteria will be allowed access to any alien technology we obtain.'

Several prominent MPs from the liberal left have been screaming that this is a violation of sovereign countries rights. The majority of the parliament and indeed the country has rejected the 'guild ridden apologists' shrill cries and have given the Prime Minister their full support in this matter.

An emergency session of the UN General Assembly has been called tomorrow in New York where it is believed that the nations of the world will attempt to force the Prime Minister to release the information she is currently withholding. Great Britain is required to abide by any UN ruling and currently it remains unclear how the Prime Minister is going to avoid this issue.

Travel now and the first hydrogen fuelled Airbus made the non stop fight from New York to London today, this marks the first zero carbon emission commercial flight in mankind's history since the demise of the airship. Though currently the tickets cost three times as much as a standard one due to the scarcity of Hydrogen the price is projected to fall to barely ¼ of current petroleum powered flights as the new fusion power plants are brought online.

The environmental lobby's call for people to abandon air travel has now been placed on the scrapheap of industry, British Airway's is already reporting a 12% increase in bookings resulting in a great sigh of relief from the beleaguered airline's shareholders. Shares in fusion power rose another 24 points today.

* * *

**CNN**

President Bartlett condemned Iran in the strongest terms from aboard Air Force One today. The new fusion reactors that provide clean, safe and efficient energy do not require uranium to run, however even fusion nuclear weapons require uranium to start off the fusion reaction. Rather than give up it's uranium enrichment program the Ayatollah today announced that he did not trust the new fusion power plants and due to the impeding closure of most of the worlds enrichment facilities Iran's will be expanded four fold to fuel their fission power plants.

It remains to be seen whether anyone actually believes this.

Discussion of any action against Iran has been suspended until after the UN vote tomorrow where the nations of the world are expected to force Great Britain to release the information to all nations not just those that it approves of. Many American business leaders are upset by this as the US was already on Great Britain's approved list and they were looking forward to the commercial advantage that gave them. However all political commentators agree that Prime Minister Elizabeth Grady has no choice but to abide by the UN's decision. Air Force One will touchdown in London in six hours in what the White House is calling a show of support for a Prime Minister increasingly under attack from overseas.

The riots and protests in Great Britain are petering out today as the British 'Island Fortress' mentality comes to the fore due to the increasing hostility of most of the rest of the world to the. The nation that saw off the Spanish Armada, Napoleon Bonaparte, Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitler seems to be almost daring someone to try something.

Unfortunately the situation here at home continues to deteriorate as the religious riots took on a new life today with new revelations about the history of the Republic. It appears that the leader and most revered of the Republic's founding father's, James Koren, was both an Astarii and Homosexual. That revelation about the Republic's version of George Washington and the fact that he is still universally respected if not approved of in the Republic has lead to his labelling as the Anti Christ by Mary Marsh and the extremist right.

For those viewer's who are not Christian the Anti Christ is said to be seen by humanity as a guiding light who will make life better for all of us but will actually lead the human race into hell.

Reverend Butler and Reverend Caldwell have stated that someone's god given gift and lifestyle choice, no matter how disagreeable, is not enough to make them Satan's champion in the eyes of all but the most idiotic.

Martial law has been extended throughout the whole southern and western US and the State of Texas has been declared an area threatened by Rebellion against the Union. Habeas Corpus has been suspended throughout the state of Texas and the Regular US Army has been sent in to support the Texas National Guard in keeping order.

* * *

**BBC**

Breaking News!

Less than an hour ago the UN General Assembly voted to force the Prime Minister to release the information she has been withholding. As soon as the vote was passed our ambassador, Sir Christopher Nelingroach, simply got up and walked out of the chamber. The precise meaning of this has yet to be confirmed but if, as it seems to most of us here at the BBC, this signals our withdrawal from the UN then it is a truly seismic shift in global politics.

For over a centaury the British Empire was the worlds sole superpower and the worlds policeman, a record the US still has more than 75 years to go to beat, the League of Nations was headed by Britain and France and we have been a Permanent Security Council member since the founding of the United Nations, indeed we helped found it in the first place and it's first meeting was held in Westminster Central Hall.

If we have truly left the UN then the consequences could be severe both at home and abroad. Several belligerent nations may perceive our withdrawal as running scared and may…

We now go live to London on the direct request of the Prime Minister.

* * *

**Canary Wharf, London – Earth **

Canary Wharf was part of the East London Docklands. Now mostly derelict and redeveloped these docks had once been the life blood of the largest and most powerful empire the world has ever seen. From these docks Governor Generals and Viceroys had been deployed to rule a quarter of the globe but with the decline of the Empire and the downgrading of Great Britain from superpower to great power the docks had fallen out of use.

One of the smaller docks, Canary Wharf, had been made the flagship redevelopment project of the Docks in particular and the East End in general. Now home to a massive and elaborate tube station high tech buildings with river views and skyscrapers the pride of Canary Wharf and the East End was the tallest skyscraper in Great Britain, One Canada Square. More commonly known as Canary Wharf Tower.

The assembled press watched the provided television screens as the cloth covering was removed from the distinctive pyramidal cap of the 770 ft tower. Many looked at each other in confusion as it revealed metallic plaques with the flags of 9 nations had been added to the pyramid cap. The murmuring of the press fell into a shocked silence as Prime Minister Grady exited the tower and took the podium.

This was not what had shaken the press however. That would be President Bartlett and the heads of state of France, Germany, Russia, China, Canada, Australia and Japan coming out to join her.

Immediately the press knew why their fellow reporters from those countries were present as well and that whatever was about to be broadcast would be sent around the world.

Prime Minister Grady began to speak.

"Over the last several weeks the revelation that we are not alone in the universe has shaken the planet to its core. Now as we finally begin to accept the fact that aliens exist we are given, in the form of the Vasudan ship, the gift of space travel. Today the United Nations decided that all should have this technology, that countries that let tribes rape and murder each other, that keep women as little more than dogs, that execute those with different religions and sexual orientations, that these countries should be given the gift of space flight. The UN has decided that these are the values that we should take to the stars, Well Great Britain says enough is enough!"

The press were to riveted to ask questions as the Prime Minster let that sink in.

"Great Britain has had enough of the UN's corruption, we've had enough of being dictated to by countries who's internal polices make Joseph Stalin look like a kind and caring leader, we've had enough of countries sitting on the human rights commissions while they simultaneously engage in genocide, we've had enough of endless debate instead of swift and decisive action and above all we've had enough of sitting on our hands rather than sending in troops to protect those being raped and murdered simply for being who they are because of how our actions will 'look'. Great Britain has had enough of the UN."

The assembled press and the people watching the broadcast held their breath.

"Last night Parliament met in closed session. By their authority I can now announce that as of this moment Great Britain is Seceding from the United Nations! We will have nothing else to do with them!"

President Bartlett took the podium.

"When Prime Minister Grady contacted me last night to inform me of her impending action it was the final straw. For a great power, founding member and permanent security council member to be driven out by the UN's colossal failings was simply to much for the USA to support, especially since the great power was Great Britain, our predecessor as sole superpower and world policeman. Last night the Congress of the United States of America met in closed session. On the authority of the Congress I can now declare that as of this moment the United States of America is seceding from the United Nations!"

The other leaders took their turns to make similar announcements before Prime Minister Grady retook the podium.

"When we decided to withdraw from the UN we never abandoned the principles on which it was founded, that sometimes the good of humanity sometimes needs to override the interests of its nation states and as none of us can honestly say we would sacrifice our nations advantage we decided to come together. The nations represented before you make up the bulk of this planets military capacity and the entirety of its space faring capacity."

The world held it's breath.

"As we are the only nations capable of entering space we now announce that the nations states power stops at Earth Orbit, from this moment forward Earth will go forward as one world, we will go forward as the Confederate Nations of Earth!"

The last pieces of fabrics covering massive 20m by 20m parts of the tower's faces were pulled away to reveal a symbol in blue and cream of ten curved points like a phoenix, at the base where they met was the map of Earth from face on like an atlas. Cradled by the two topmost points was a baseless pyramid with a sun above it. Below was written a motto. 'United we Stand, Divided we Fall'*

"The nations before you make up the Confederate Security Council and the Confederate Nations of Earth will be the only body allowed to achieve spaceflight both as a government and as companies and private citizens. Any spacecraft launched by a non member state will be shot down. The diplomacy and trade agreements will also be solely with the CNE, no non member nation will be allowed to have anything to do with anything a all outside of Earth Orbit but above all else the Confederacy will not allow just anyone to join. The Peoples Republic of China represents the bare minimum level of human rights required for entry and entry shall be at the pleasure of the Confederate Security Council only."

President Bartlett took the podium once more.

"As the United States are now members of the Confederacy the United Nations have two weeks to vacate New York or they will be removed by force, the building itself however is to symbolic with corruption, incompetence and inaction and so it has been decided that the Confederacy will be based here in Canary Wharf."

The press chose that moment to awaken from their stupor as did the rest of the world.

The old World Order had ended.

As far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned Earth was finally one world.

* * *

* the 'Phoenix Symbol' is Battlestar Galactica's with the person replaced by the atlas map of Earth which is centred on the dividing line of the eastern and western hemispheres that runs through Greenwich, London, UK.

A little shorter than usual but no other parts of the plot seemed to fit in with the revelation sequence. Back to usual in the next chapter.


	30. Manipulations and Confrontations

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Confederate Nations of Earth**

**CNE Members: **USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Canada, Australia, Japan

**Main CNE Facilities:** SGC (USA), Ice Station R&D (Canada), Gov. Contract Manufacturing (Germany) Gov. Contract Supply (France), Planetary Defence Network Command (Japan), Military Power Generation Facilities (China), Planetary Defence Fighter Squadrons (Russia), Eden Spaceport (Australia)

* * *

**Chapter 30: Manipulations and ****Confrontations**

I have started a new story, First Knight of Highever, based on the X box game Dragon Age that I got for Christmas. Feel free to check it out.

**Republic Citadel, Polaris – ****Kailua Galaxy **

Supreme Chancellor Amidala sat down at the table for one of the very few family meals she had the time for these days. Her Husband Anakin Skywalker sat opposite her looking exhausted, her adult son, Luke Skywalker, sat next to him. Luke knew how much family meant to his mother, especially given how his grandparents, aunt and cousins were trapped on Naboo and always made the effort to visit his parents for dinner once a week.

"How are things going Anakin? You look exhausted." She asked her husband noting how his curly honey locks had lost some of their lustre and the deep bags under his eyes.

"Stressful." Anakin replied as he reached for his drink. "Since James took the entire battle group with him I'm having to coordinate all of our needs with the Peacekeeper High Command and that's the reason that the battle group was created in the first place."

Padme winced sympathetically. "Well if it makes you feel any better things aren't going so well my side either."

"I know." Anakin sighed, as acting Grand Master he got virtually the same security briefing as his wife. "Is the Alliance build up proceeding apace?"

Padme winced. "Faster. At this rate they'll be ready to strike by the middle of next year."

"James doesn't bring through the new upgrades until the end of the year when he comes home to attend the Republic Day Parade. Can we upgrade everything in six months?" Anakin questioned.

"No." Padme replied wearily. "We're going to put everything we have into upgrading the First Strike Fleet but leave the rest."

"But the Second and Third Strike fleets will be slaughtered!" Luke spoke up.

Padme and Anakin both glared at their only son.

The sandy haired young adult blushed. "I'm sorry I'm sure you know what your doing strategically but its going to cost a lot of people their lives." Luke replied respectfully. He knew full well the burdens of command that had been placed on both his parents and had decided at a young age he wanted no part of it.

When Padme and Anakin had discovered that their son didn't want to be an Astarii, a Peacekeeper or a Politician they were a little disappointed but had promised to support him no mater what.

That had been the best decision of their lives. Luke had proven himself a talented artist his sensitivity providing a great boon to his already talented hands and eyes. Paintings and sculptures by Luke Skywalker sold for hundreds of thousands of denari minimum and they were worth every penny for their quality and depth. Yet rather than let this go to his head the caring man still went to a different orphanage each month leading a weekend art class for the children and providing several months worth of art supplies out of his own pocket.

_I couldn't be more proud of him._ Padme thought as she smiled sweetly at her son letting him know he was forgiven. Her expression twisted into pain and longing as she looked at the last place at the table. Set but unoccupied.

Anakin sighed as he saw his wife's hurt displayed on her face. He missed his daughter too, more than anything but neither parent could express anything but massive disappointment in her.

After all how else could they deal with the fact that Leia Skywalker had killed Prince Xizor and had taken his place as princess and leader of Black Sun?

* * *

**From: ****Intelligence Directorate Mothership Shu'ria **

**To: Peacekeeper Disruptors (Earth)**

The USA has maintained it's influence beyond all expectations. This is incompatible with Republic interests. Begin Operation Pastels.

* * *

**BBC**

It has been over a week since the revelation of the Confederate Nations of Earth. The UN, left severely weakened but still viable, has only just bowed to the inevitable and has begun withdrawing from New York. It remains to be seen where they will base from now on.

The UN has repeatedly ordered the release of the Vasudan information under various articles and treaties. The CNE has refused all requests and has basically told the UN that they have as much authority over them as a rabid dog. The situation is finally calming down across the planet. Europe has finally emerged from under Martial Law and the new religious divisions are settling down.

What is clear is that the CNE will be tested in the coming days. By rejecting the UN's authority and all international treaties its member nations signed before they joined international law is now divided in two. The UN member nations and the CNE member nations, there is no crossover between the two groups.

All political commentators agree that this will soon lead to open conflict. It remains to be scene whether the CNE will live up to it's promise of swift firm and decisive action in defence of its member nations.

* * *

**Stargate Operations, PKSB Isenguard – Kaitain**

"Connection established General"the officer manning the controls reported.

"Dispatch the Recon Rover." General Santiago ordered as she watched one of the many view screens that showed the gate room. The view screens were needed since Stargate Operations were buried in the centre of Starbase Isenguard and the gate room was near the top where it could be opened to space should the need arise.

The white and gold recon rover trundled through the event horizon onto the next planet that was on the Republic's search list. The Tok'ra had provided a list of all of the planets that they knew of that the Goa'uld had abandoned and what sort of resources, including slaves, had been left behind. Thankfully most of them were in the outer rim of the galaxy that were, as a rule, to resource poor for the feudal medieval tech level of the Goa'uld slaves to exploit for long before reaching exhaustion. Her officers had prioritised them with the worlds abandoned with the most resources at the top of the list, unfortunately they had been unable to form connections with most of them so this had actually been quite a rare event recently.

The Recon Rover passed through the event horizon and the main view screen changed to show the data it sent back.

"Sensors report a standard Class M planet with the atmosphere registering evidence of industrial activity. Terrain within sensor range includes multiple steep sided mountains, most likely extinct volcanoes, and dense forests. The foothills are grassy plains and there appears to be the beginning of a large city at the very edge of sensor range." The officer commanding the recon rover by remote reported.

Corazon was more interested in the in the ruins that the stargate was located in. They seemed to be undergoing some sort of archaeological dig and several of the archaeologists were now approaching the recon rover cautiously.

"Well met. I am General Corazon Santiago of the Galactic Republic of Planets. We bring you greetings from the stars."

* * *

**Government Bunker Complex, New Delhi, India – Earth**

Deep beneath New Delhi the Prime Minister of the Republic of India was meeting with the Council of Ministers to discuss recent events.

"I think we are all agreed that due to our possession of nuclear weapons and the third largest military in the world in addition to our population and economic output our support is going to be vital to a viable UN." The Prime minister began. "What we have to decide now is whether the UN would give us the best deal or whether we would get on better off throwing in our lot with the CNE."

"Why would the CNE offer us a better deal?" One minister questioned. "We are one of the few non CNE states that can at least attempt space travel what can we offer the CNE that rivals that importance to the UN?"

"Legitimacy." The foreign minister spoke up. "At the moment the Confederacy is a rich countries only club. If we enter then we prove that they are actually a viable alternative to the UN to for the second and third world states, provided they clean up their act."

"Will they even admit us?" The most liberal of the ministers questioned looking his conservative colleagues in the eye. "The measures taken in the countryside to make people realise the 'untouchables' are not little more than animals are not as effective as they could be, a direct result of opposition in this council."

"In this case China's addition works in our favour." The Prime Minister intervened quickly to stifle the repetitive argument. "Our human rights record is better than theirs so the Confederacy has no reason to exclude us."

"Would the Confederacy really shoot down any effort we made to enter space beyond civilian satellites?" The question was put to the intelligence minister.

"We believe so, no amount of international outcry would do them more damage than going back on that portion of the pledge they made when they revealed themselves."

"Even if we declared that we would consider it an act of war?"

"Even then. They're betting that no one will be suicidal enough to take on the might of the US with Russia, China and Europe in support."

"Don't tell me you actually believe this?!" the most left wing minister cried incredulously. "They wouldn't dare risk open war. They'd simply reveal themselves to be the imperialistic dictators they really are."

"If I might interject." The intelligence minister spoke up.

The Prime Minister nodded.

"We know that another country is going to use this situation to get what it believes is theirs by force. I think we should watch what happens to them before making a decision."

The Prime Minister and Council of Ministers agreed to wait, but one way or the other India would be picking a side and soon.

* * *

**Falkland Islands, South Atlantic, Earth – Several Days Later**

With the massive chaos that had engulfed the world following the crash of the Vasudan ship and the revealing of the Confederacy many intelligence reports had been ignored or were caught up in the backlog. The unfortunate consequences of that were now coming to the fore.

"Enemy aircraft approaching! Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!"

The pilots of the five **Eurofighter Typhoon** jets of **RAF**_** Mount Pleasant**_ in the Falkland Islands groaned at the obvious drill as they ran to get their birds in the air.

Less than five minuets later they were all airborne and patrolling over the British Overseas Territory and it's 3,000 inhabitants. "Ok _**Mount Pleasant**_ I hope now we've proved our reaction times you'll let us have some fun up here."

"Flight leader your going to have more than a little fun, check your scopes we have 30 incoming **A-4AR Fightinghawk** jets."

"Those are the jets used by the Argentine air force." The pilot replied in horror.

"Good hunting." The _**Mount Peasant's **_controller said quietly. What else do you say to someone facing certain death?

* * *

**Argentine Command Bunker, Buenos Ares – Earth.**

"The British jets have been destroyed Madam President." One of the Argentine officers called out from the communications equipment "And the Helicopters were destroyed on the ground. The RAF base is in fames and we have air superiority."

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner frowned as she considered the part of the report that had been omitted. "How many did we lose?"

"We lost 17 fighters Madam President." The Brigadier Mayor attending her replied. "The new Eurofighter is the very latest weapon and the Royal Air Force is one of the best in the world. There were always going to be losses, we still have another 250 aircraft in addition to the 30 already deployed. We will still be able to defend ourselves should the British somehow manage to pull off a counter attack."

President Fernández didn't look happy about the loss of so many of the air force's best planes but if it was worth it if it brought the Islas Malvinas back under Argentine rule as they should have been since 1833 when the British Imperialists first colonized them.

"Madam President! The Navy is engaging!"

* * *

**Falkland Islands**** Territorial Waters, South Atlantic – Earth**

Captain Montgomery ran through the information once more in his head, **RAF **_**Mount Pleasant**_ had gone dark after screaming about incoming Argentine jets and her fighters were gone as well. He could only conclude that Argentina was using the chaos to launch a full scale invasion of the islands and had already gained air superiority.

"Communications order **HMS**_** Clyde **_back to Port Stanley immediately if this is really an invasion then a patrol ship with a single 30mm gun is going to be of no use in a naval battle."

"Yes Sir. _**Clyde **_acknowledges the order, they will assist in the defence of Port Stanley."

_At least one of us will__. _Captain Montgomery thought to himself. _God dam the MoD for recalling all the submarines to guard that dam ship. Can't be to hard on them though, who would have thought that anyone would go to war when the civilians are rioting?_

"Radar sir! Incoming Argentine ships reading 4 **MEKO 360** destroyers led by the **ARA **_**Almirante Brown**_."

The rest of the crew remained fixated on their displays, the Argentineans had sent the main part of their navy against the single Royal Navy warship in the South Atlantic, their own **HMS **_**Edinburgh. **_

"Battle Stations! All ahead flank! We have to close with them to engage." Captain Montgomery ordered. _**Edinburgh **_was an aging **Type 42** destroyer designed for air defence and carrier escort. More than adequate to take on any pirate or minor navy ship she was not designed to go into a full scale naval battle alone. However that was exactly what she had to do now.

As the two forces closed the crew wished for the presence of one of the carriers, the **Type 22** frigates or even the new **Type 45** destroyers, anything except their own **Type 42**. With only the main 4.5 inch gun capable of engaging surface targets _**Edinburgh **_was woefully under armed when compared to her opponents, but she was their ship and she had a few tricks up her sleeve.

"Exocet! Exocet! Exocet! Incoming Missiles!"

"Launch interceptors and use radar targeting for the main gun. Fire on the lead ship as soon as we enter range. Engineering give us all possible speed, don't worry about repairs we're not getting out of this in once piece but I intend to take at least one of them with us."

"Aye Captain increasing speed."

"Sea Dart missiles launching! Interception in three, two, one. Two enemy missiles destroyed, six enemy missiles incoming. Reloading."

"Helm take evasive action but keep us heading towards the Argie ships."

"Sea Dart launching! Interception in three, two one. One hit, one miss, Five enemy missiles incoming. Reloading."

"Sea Dart launching! Interception in three, two one. Two enemy missiles destroyed, three enemy missiles incoming."

"Impact imminent! Phalanx CIWS engaging!"

"All hands Brace for impact!"

The two Phalanx CIWS on **HMS **_**Edinburgh **_opened up. Added to all **Type 42s** after the Falklands war after **HMS**_** Sheffield**_ was sunk by an Exocet this was precisely what they were designed to do. The guns sprayed bullets in the path of two of the missiles causing them to detonate early before switching to the last one. The bullets hit the missile and blasted it to pieces raining down flaming bits of wreckage on the deck of the destroyer it had come so close to hitting but doing no other damage."

"All enemy missiles destroyed sir."

"We are to close to the Argie ships for them to launch more Exocet's but we can't get much closer as they have been equipped with torpedo launchers, use your discretion if you detect a launch helmsman."

"Aye Sir!"

"We've entered weapons range, firing!"

"Miss! Long by 31!"

"Recalibrating, firing!"

"Hit! Hit! Fire for effect!"

**HMS**_**Edinburgh **_continued to pound the Argentine flagship with its main gun as the Argentine vessels fired back, thankfully the superior British targeting equipment was proving worth the price the MoD had paid for it scoring hits even as the ship took evasive action. _**Edinburgh **_rocked as another shot landed on her aft deck.

"Dam those Argies! There gunners are no slouches! Damage report."

"Major damage to the aft decks and the upper super structure Sea Dart launchers are out of action."

"Fires reported in the aft decks damage control responding."

"Status of the Argie flagship?"

"She's come to all stop sir! She's also listing badly to starboard and is billowing a lot of smoke."

"Change targets to the next closest Argie ship and engage!"

"Sonar contact dead astern!"

"Take evasive…"

The torpedo fired from the Argentine submarine that had snuck up behind _**Edinburgh**_ slammed into her stern. The drive shafts shattered and the rear armour breached letting water pour in to the lower decks when the second torpedo struck amidships, the explosion ripped the destroyer in half and **HMS **_**Edinburgh **_disappeared beneath the waves.

* * *

**Argentine Command Bunker, Buenos Ares – Earth.**

"The British warship is confirmed sunk Madam President." The Almirante reported.

"Losses?"

"**ARA **_**Almirante Brown **_is listing and on fire. She'll need to be towed into Port Stanley to be patched up enough to make it home for repairs. **ARA **_**Heroína **_reports minor damage to her superstructure and one torpedo launcher out of action."

The President nodded before turning to the General de División attending her. "General?"

"The British Army has only 500 men on the island supplemented by the islanders own defense force. The Islas Malvinas will be ours by nightfall."

* * *

**Government**** House, Port Stanley – Falkland Islands**

The explosion and splintering of the main doors signalled that the last line of defence had fallen. Argentine Helicopters had destroyed **HMS**_** Clyde **_in the harbour before moving on to aid the Argentine marines in their assault. Over the course of the day the 500 defenders had been pushed back by the several thousand strong Argentine invasion force. Governor Alan Hukle looked across the desk at the Chief Executive Tim Thorogood as a gun battle erupted in the hall outside which was undoubtedly the last stand of Commodore Phillip Thicknesse and his flag lieutenant.

The guns fell silent as the door to the governor's office burst open and the Argentine troops swarmed inside to demand their surrender.

Argentina now controlled the Falkland Islands.

* * *

**CNN**

Breaking News!

Cristina Fernández, President of Argentina, has announced the capture of the Falkland Islands by Argentine forces yesterday. Apparently the Royal Airforce jets there were overwhelmed by the Argentine Airforce as the Argentine navy surrounded and sank the British warship **HMS **_**Edinburgh **_with no losses. The entire 500 strong garrison of British soldiers is reported either dead or captured.

We at CNN wish to express our hope that most of them have been captured but given the fierce fight our British allies have been putting up in Afghanistan it is likely that most of the garrison was killed defending Port Stanley from the invading forces.

Argentine forces captured Government House late last night forcing Governor Alan Hukle to announce the surrender of the Falkland Islands.

When asked for the reasons behind this unprovoked invasion President Fernández responded that the Islas Malvinas are sovereign Argentine territory and that the 'British occupiers' provided all the provocation needed. The official reason announced to the world in a press release states that in addition as Great Britain has refused to share research data and profitable technologies with the entire world Argentina has decided to take what it is rightfully owed in territory rather than information.

Argentina also now considers the matter closed and states that any further military action will be the fault of Great Britain refusing to recognise its legitimate liberation of its own territory form an occupying force. The new Islas Malvinas government and the first settlers will reportedly arrive tomorrow and they intend to begin deportation of all British citizens as soon as possible.

Great Britain has yet to comment but President Bartlett has condemned the invasion in the strongest possible terms.

* * *

**COBRA Committee Room, Cabinet Office – London**

Prime Minister Elizabeth Grady sat at the head of the ring table that dominated the COBRA emergency committee room. The table had a gap at the end opposite the Prime Minister allowing someone to stand in the middle of the ring and this was where the Chief of the Defence Staff, the First Sea Lord Alan West currently stood.

The room and table were both black with light coming from soft white panels built into the table and from a ring in the ceiling above it. Plasma screens were mounted on the walls and currently displayed the Royal Coat of Arms rotating. This was the modern day cabinet war room, what Americans would recognise as the British equivalent of the White House situation room.

"Well Lord Admiral?" Prime Minister Grady growled out.

"Prime Minister I am sorry to say that it simply isn't feasible." The First Sea Lord replied. Even if we could abandon the Vasudan ship, dispatch both carriers and most of our surface fleet to retake the islands with the majority of the Army tied down in Afghanistan we have nothing that can retake the islands. The conflict's in Afghanistan and Iraq have gutted the Navy and the Air Force to pay for the army as your predecessor Tony Blair made no increase to the defence budget, in effect making us fight a war on a peace time budget."

"I have remedied that Lord Admiral." Prime Minister Grady responded tersely. "The two new super carriers that were to be second only to the American Nimitz and Gerald Ford classes were proof of that. Before we cancelled them to pay for the Republic's Hammerhead and Forays."

"Yes Prime Minister but building warships and tanks and planes takes time and I'm afraid that the problems left by Tony Blair's government cannot be solved with a simple press release of intent. The Argentineans no doubt knew that with the new carriers and warships we would be unassailable which is why they struck now when the Labour defence policies have left us cripplingly weak in all but desert warfare."

"Murphy's law, whatever can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time." The defence secretary muttered. "Will the Americans help us if we ask them?"

"Not a chance." The foreign secretary commented "Last time this happened they wanted us to hand over the islands or reach a joint sovereignty agreement. Even if President Bartlett is more sympathetic he still won't order American soldiers to their deaths to defend British territory."

"Rather Hypocritical of him as British troops have died in the hundreds in American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." The Home Secretary muttered. "Americans love us dying for their interests but their never willing to return the favour."

Prime Minister Grady glared but otherwise said nothing. She couldn't reprimand her Home Secretary for speaking the truth after all. "What do we plan to do then gentlemen?"

* * *

**White House Situation Room – Washington DC**

"Please sit down" President Bartlett said as he entered the situation room to see everyone standing at attention. "What's been going on?"

"The British have been backed into a corner Mr President." Admiral Fitzwallace reported. "Their navy and air force have born the brunt of the financial cost of aiding us in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Royal Navy simply cannot achieve ocean superiority around the Falkland Islands and protect the Vasudan ship at the same time."

"Can we take over security of the ship and let the Royal Navy assault the islands with everything they have?" President Bartlett asked.

"If we do we will eventually have to shoot at the ships that keep trying to gain access to it Mr President." Leo McGarry spoke up. "And leaving aside the legality and political repercussions of American warships sinking British ships in British waters it doesn't matter anyway."

"Why not?"

"With 150,000 men the British Army has enough men to retake the Islands eventually but currently it's most experienced troops, its special forces, its supplies and supply lines are all geared to support us in Afghanistan, by the time they are redirected to the navy, an invasion force assembled and a supply line created it will be to late. Argentina will have fortified the islands to such an extent that it would make the Maginot Line look like a sand castle. If they could be ready by the end of the month then maybe but the time it would take? No."

"To say nothing of the fact that it would require them to completely withdraw from Afghanistan leaving our forces there high and dry and resulting in hundreds of deaths as we try to pick up the pieces. Say what you want about them the British are to honourable to do that." Nancy McNally said glaring at two army officers standing at the wall who seemed to find Great Britain's plight amusing.

President Bartlett noticed them too and sent a vicious glare their way before continuing. "So what do we expect the British to do? Give up?"

"We see no other military alternative Mr President." Admiral Fitzwallace replied after a moments silence.

"So Great Britain has just lost the equivalent of Alaska or Hawaii and you expect them to just sit there and take it. Your really don't know them at all do you?" Nancy McNally filled the silence.

"We see no military way for the British to regain control of the situation." Admiral Fitzwallace replied. He was intending on continuing until the Vice President, John Hoynes, entered the room.

As the President and Vice President were usually kept far apart and the President hadn't sent for him everyone fell silent as they knew that this was serious.

"John." President Bartlett said expectantly.

"Forgive me Mr President but this was sent to the White House press office along with the press office of every head of state on the planet. As C J Cregg does not have the authority to disturb you in here she came straight to me."

The room became deadly silent. C J Cregg was an extremely competent press secretary not prone to over reaction. For her to have skipped all of her superiors except Leo who was in here with the President and go straight to John Hoynes's office the message must be of dire import.

"Would you read it for us please?" President Bartlett asked with trepidation.

Vice President Hoynes took a deep breath before continuing.

"Following the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of sovereign British territory Her Majesties Government feels that they must respond. It is of no consequence that the Argentine invasion force attacked Port Stanley and forced the surrender of Government House. They have attacked Great Britain and they may as well have marched up Whitehall and forced the surrender of the Houses of Parliament for there is no difference between any two pieces of the territory of this great nation. As a result Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland hereby declares war on the Republic of Argentina."

Everyone in the room began shouting at once, Great Britain would not declare war if they didn't intend to do something but the best analysts were at a loss as to what they could do.

"Silence!" President Bartlett called out causing the entire room to become deathly silent again as they realised exactly where they were and who's presence they were in. Unlike the rest President Bartlett had noticed that John Hoynes was still deathly pale and his hands were shaking slightly as they held the message. "Read the rest of it please John."

Murmurings broke out among the table. Great Britain had declared war? What else was there to say?

"Further more as the Republic of Argentina has attacked with the full knowledge that conventional British forces are unable to respond Her Majesties government feel that they have no option but to use unconventional means to defend the United Kingdom. If the Argentine invasion force has not begun withdrawing from the sovereign British territory known as the Falkland Islands by mid day tomorrow or announced its intentions to do so then Great Britain will use nuclear weapons to destroy the city of Buenos Ares. God save the Queen."

* * *

I'm betting this ending will get me a few reviews. Just so you know I'm already set on how this conflict will end. Feel free to guess though.

I have started a new story, First Knight of Highever, based on the X box game Dragon Age that I got for Christmas. Feel free to check it out.


	31. Betrayal

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

* * *

_Italics are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Confederate Nations of Earth**

**CNE Members: **USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Canada, Australia, Japan

**Main CNE Facilities:** SGC (USA), Ice Station R&D (Canada), Gov. Contract Manufacturing (Germany) Gov. Contract Supply (France), Planetary Defence Network Command (Japan), Military Power Generation Facilities (China), Planetary Defence Fighter Squadrons (Russia), Eden Spaceport (Australia), Capitol Building + Political heart (Great Britain)

* * *

**Chapter 31: Betrayal**

**Temple Ruins – Pangar**

"Commander will you stop pacing?" Prime Minister Michael Croft was growing irritated with Supreme Commander Duran's pacing.

"We are about to meet an alien race for the first time! Several in fact and they are more advanced than us and capable of being a significant threat giving me good reason to be on the highest alert. Maybe you trust them without suspicion but I cannot." Commander Duran replied.

"Since the discovery of the temple ruins we have suspected that we are not alone in the universe and now finally we have out proof. I for one am grateful that the first stellar power we have made contact with has humans as one of their member races and do not wish to wipe us from the face of Pangar as several of our more lurid fantasy writers predicted."

That got a slight smile and snort from the nervous Supreme Commander of Pangar's military. "There is that Prime Minister."

The stargate activated sunning both men along with the security detail and the delegation from the Synod, the legislative of Pangar.

"They are sending their most respected team of representatives, we must make a good impression and be wary in the negotiating room. You don't get command of such a team by being an idiot." Prime Minister Croft muttered as much to the other representatives as to himself.

The stargate rippled as IS1 exited the gate.

Five figures exited the stargate. A young average man with dark hair and black and gold armour, a tall young man with long blonde hair and black and green armour, a young lithe woman with red hair and black and gold armour, a tall and athletic young woman with white hair and dazzling white armour and a man with grey skin and horns with an energy/mechanical arm and black armour

The members of the reception committee gulped as the first alien visitors to Pangar stepped forward to greet them.

"Well Met, I am Council Master Atton Rand, leader of IS1. Thank you for allowing us to visit your world." The young black and gold armoured man said calmly.

"Welcome to Pangar, I am Prime Minister Michael Croft. We look forward to pursuing a peaceful relationship with you."

The two groups studied each other for a moment before Atton motioned Mical forward.

"This is Master Mical, he is the primary diplomat and cultural expert of the team and will hopefully be conducing fruitful negotiations with your people."

"Fruitful for whom?" Commander Duran muttered quietly

Atton gave a wiry smile as Commander Duran flushed realising he had been heard. "This is Master Brianna, she is our chief warrior and tactician she will be happy to answer some of the questions you no doubt have about our military capability."

* * *

**White House Situation Room – Washington D.C. Earth**

"Well you've had all night, what have you got for me?" President Bartlett asked as he strode into the situation room.

"China, Canada and Australia have offered to send an invasion force to retake the Falkland Islands on behalf of Great Britain." Leo McGarry reported "But Prime Minister Grady has asked then to wait."

"She's asked them to wait?" President Bartlett asked stunned.

"The British have an antagonistic relationship with the Chinese and have done ever since _**HMS Nemesis**_ destroyed the Chinese navy capturing Hong Kong and forcing China to accept the British Empires traders in all of its ports nearly 200 years ago." Nancy McNally was reading from a State Department brief. "Even if Canada and Australia add troops there are still going to be problems at home in both countries and on the Falklands Islands themselves."

"So their going to turn down help?"

"From China? Yes Mr President." Admiral Fitzwallace replied. "General Sir Richard Dannatt has told us that the Prime Minister will give the go ahead only if Argentina refuses to surrender after the destruction of Buenos Aries."

"Their really going to do it?" President Bartlett asked. "The British are really prepared to fire the third Nuclear Weapon ever used in anger on Earth?"

"Politically, militarily and economically they have no choice now Mr President. The Trident class nuclear submarine _**HMS Vanguard**_ is at sea somewhere in the North Atlantic and will launch at mid day today unless Argentina withdraws."

"Nancy what's the news from state? Have the Argentineans caved to our pressure?"

"We've used every diplomatic weapon we have Mr President. President Fernández is calling our and Britain's bluff, nothing is stopping her short of a US carrier group."

"Leo?"

"Congress won't budge. All the congressman with large Irish constituencies are bowing to the Irish emirates desire to see England humiliated. Not surprising considering the fuss they kicked up about the release of the Lockerby bomber when they outright refuse to extradite known IRA terrorists for trial."

"The military vote can't swing it for us?"

"Those states with a large representation from the armed forces want to send troops to help the British in return for them supporting us in Afghanistan but at best they can deadlock the congress. We don't have the votes."

"Lionel, any way around that? Declaring war in an emergency doesn't require a vote of congress right?"

"Correct Mr President." The White House Council replied. "But that relates only to attacks on the US itself not our allies. I'm sorry but there is no way to declare war without the congress's approval."

"And we can't get it."

"We'd be more likely to get gay marriage, free contraception in schools and abortions for all out of them Mr President."

President Bartlett leaned back in his chair before turning to his Vice President.

"I think you know where I stand John. Have you reached a decision?"

Vice President John Hoynes took a moment before answering. "What happened in 1945 was horrific but today's weapons are hundreds if not thousands of times worse. I can't knowingly support the use of nuclear weapons on Earth at all or on population centres in general."

"Then we are in agreement. Admiral?"

"We sold the British their nuclear weapons Mr President and they use our GPS system for guidance. If the British launch we can lock them out of the GPS and the nuke will fall into the sea without detonating."

"Mr President I feel compelled to point out that we will be betraying our closest ally and no amount of diplomacy, gifts or concessions will rescue our relationship if we go through with this. Great Britain will never forgive us, we will be hated and reviled by them for the foreseeable future, possibly forever."

President Bartlett took a moment to consider the advice he had been given and make the most difficult choice of his life.

"Admiral if the British launch lock them out of the GPS. Nuclear weapons will not be used on my watch."

"Yes Mr President."

"Betrayal thy name is Uncle Sam." President Bartlett muttered to himself. It was a measure of the collective guilt of the room that no one disagreed.

* * *

**Empire City – Pangar**

IS1 nodded to the Prime Minister as they entered the meeting room set aside for their use. Pangar was unified by force under the fourth dynasty of the Pangaran Empire nearly 800 years ago. Now after a centuries of power struggles and revolutions the planet was still unified but under a constitutional monarchy. The Synod held power now not the Emperor.

As they travelled through the city IS1 had noted that they were an industrial power of Earth WW1 proportions. The Republic had taken to using the stages of development of the Tau'ri allies as a base for non starfaring powers since it had been so long since the major species of the galaxies were not starfaring they were lost to myth and legend.

The Prime Minister and the Supreme Commander of Pangar sat at one side of the table and IS1 sat at the other. Prime Minister Croft opened his mouth to speak but was stunned into silence by Mical's raised hand.

"Before we begin there are one or two things we should clear up." The Astarii master guardian said. "It is standard procedure for any new allies to have their world scanned by a stealth cruiser before negotiations begin to try and minimise any surprises."

Commander Duran looked like he was ready to explode. "And now you have discovered that we cannot resist you you intend to demand concessions or our outright surrender?" He thundered as Prime Minister Croft went pale.

"No." Mical said rasiing his hands in the universal gesture for calm. "Normally we would not mention it until such things came up in negotiations. However our phantom found something that causes us great concern."

"What would cause you such concern that you would jeopardize our first meeting?" The Prime Minister asked trying desperately to regain the edge.

Mira placed a holoprojector on the desk and both Pangarens paled when it projected a three dimensional model of their tretonin production facility. Along with several hundred blinking red lifesigns.

"Would you please explain why you are breeding Goa'uld symbiotes?" Mical asked harshly.

* * *

**COBRA Room, Cabinet Office – London**

"The deadline has been reached Prime Minister. It is Midday." The First Sea Lord Alan West reported.

"Have the Argentineans announced their intention to withdraw Lord Admiral?" Prime Minister Grady asked.

"I regret to report that they have not Prime Minister."

"Very well, Captain Fisher are you listening?"

"Yes Prime Minister."

"You are to launch immediately, your target is Buenos Ares."

"By your command Prime Minister, we are launching now." Captain Fisher replied over the satellite link.

* * *

**Somewhere in the North Atlantic**

The gentle rolling seas of the North Atlantic looked peaceful as they could be in the glinting mid day sun. An explosion of froth, bubbles and steam suddenly turned that calm into mayhem and carnage as a brilliant white missile screeched through the surface and into the sky. Its target was the capital city of Argentina.

* * *

**White House Situation Room – Washington D.C. Earth**

"The British have launched Mr President. We are locking them out of the GPS targeting systems now."

President Bartlett was not the only one stunned. None of them had actually believed that the British would launch a nuke no matter how few options they had.

The seconds ticked by as everyone waited for news. A frown formed on the Presidents face. "Admiral?"

"It should have been done already Mr President." Admiral Fitzwallace replied as uneasy as everyone else.

Nancy McNally received a report from one of her aids before taking a deep breath and speaking. "It appears the British anticipated our betrayal. They have modified all of their nukes to use the new European GPS system known as Galileo, we have no control over it and thus no way to stop the missile."

President Bartlett's head fell into his hands as the situation room went dead silent. There was nothing they could do.

* * *

**Argentine Command Bunker, Buenos Ares – Earth**

"Madame President we have to get you out of here!" One of the staff members called out as everyone else, President Fernández included, stared horror-struck at the screens displaying a British submarine launched missile heading for Buenos Ares with no hope of interception.

"They launched, they actually launched! They weren't bluffing!" Someone else screamed out as realisation and panic set in.

"Madam President!" One of her security detail called out trying to motion her to the door.

President Fernández shook her head and stayed where she was. "I caused this. My fate will be no different than those I have killed for our pride."

* * *

**Buenos Ares, Argentina - Earth**

The People of Buenos Ares watched in horrified fascination as a vapour trail in the high atmosphere appeared from the Atlantic, some panicked but most knew that there was no point trying to outrun a nuclear blast.

Hurtling down faster than the eye could see the missile slammed into the La Casa Rosada, the seat of the President of Argentina, and obliterated it along with the command bunker beneath. Many people screamed and prayed and prepared to die but as the seconds passed they slowly came to a realization.

They were alive.

* * *

**COBRA Room, Cabinet Office – London**

"The cruise missile has destroyed the La Casa Rosada and President Fernández is confirmed dead Prime Minister." Alan West reported.

"And our ultimatum Lord Admiral?"

"Every radio station in the southern hemisphere is broadcasting it Prime Minister. The Argentineans know they have 53 minuets remaining before we launch a nuke."

* * *

**Earth**

Every radio station in the country, military or civilian was broadcasting on every frequency possible as the Argentine forces on the Falkland Islands scrambled to get onto any ship in the harbour and show the British that they were leaving. Just incase some hothead senator decided to add a voice of dissent to the radio broadcasts.

The radio broadcasts that were screaming the complete and unconditional surrender of the Argentine Republic.

* * *

**White House Situation Room – Washington D.C. Earth**

"Mr President Prime Minister Grady is on the line." One of the communications officers called out.

President Bartlett nodded indicating the call should be put through.

"Madam Prime Minister I understand Argentina has surrendered and is withdrawing from the Falkland Islands. My congratulations."

The atmosphere in the room was tense as they waited for the reply.

"Yes it seems that our Chinese, Australian and Canadian allies will no longer have to launch an invasion. A most equitable outcome don't you agree Mr President?" Prime Minister Grady's tone was sweet but dangerous.

"I do Prime Minister, I must also congratulate you on the remarkable restraint you showed in not deploying nuclear weapons."

"Yes I don't think we'll be buying any more of those from you. The GPS system they were intended to use seems to fail at the worst possible time, it is fortunate that we listened to our French allies and modified them. I think we will join with them for production purposes as well now."

The entire room fell into depression as any hope that they had not been caught evaporated.

"I did what I thought was best." President Bartlett defended.

"For the US maybe." Prime Minister Grady replied the anger finally leaking through into her voice.

There was silence on both ends for some time. What else was there to say?

"Would you actually have done it?" President Bartlett asked quietly.

"Good Day Mr President." Prime Minister Grady said curtly as she severed the link between Britain and the US.

* * *

**James Koren's Office, **_**PKSB Defiance of the Night**_** – Kaitain**

It was late evening and James had dismissed everyone, even Chris, from the building as soon as the call had come in from Deputy Director Zo'or. The androgynous Talon now stood proudly before James's desk to deliver his report.

"It is done Grandmaster. Operation Pastels was a complete success, our Disruptors in the governments of Argentina, Great Britain and the USA have successfully severed the US and Great Britain. The USA has officially lost control of the Confederate Security Council, a council that they have already agreed that they must obey." Zo'or was flushed with the success of his personal project.

"Excellent work Zo'or." James praised. " Great Britain leads the great powers holding the balance of power between the US and Russia and China and they will no longer follow the USA's lead without demanding many large concessions for voting their way. The very outcome that I instructed you to achieve. You have done very well."

"Thank you Grandmaster." Zo'or replied taking it as a dismissal and heading for the door.

"Oh and Zo'or?" James called out causing the Talon to stop and turn to face him. "If you ever enact a plan that involves the use of WMDs on our allies again without checking with me first I will make sure that you are standing next to them when they go off. Ok?"

Zo'or went slightly green before backing out of the door as quickly as possible. "Yes Grandmaster."

James sighed and went back to his paperwork. _I'd have authorised it anyway. And it worked spectacularly well to. Long Live The Republic._

* * *

**Let me know what you thought!**

**It takes me many hours to write these chapters. It only takes you 30 seconds**** to review. Please do so if you want me to continue.**


	32. Endings and Beginnings

I own none of the TV, movies, books or games mentioned

Galaxy maps are available on request. Just private message me your email address. I highly recommend it as the description of the Star Wars territory is hard to visualize. Unfortunately no Stargate galaxy map exists.

* * *

**A Reminder of the ranks**

**Military:** Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Commander, Commandant, Admiral/General, Warmaster

**Astarii:** Apprentice/Lieutenant, Padawan/Major, Knight/Colonel, Master/Commandant, Council Master/Admiral/General, Grand Master/Warmaster

_Italics are thoughts. _

"_**Bold italics with speech marks are a symbiote speaking."**_

_**Bold italics with no speech marks is a symbiote thinking. **_

Hyperspace = stargate + star wars hyperspace

Jumpspace = Babylon 5 hyperspace

* * *

**Confederate Nations of Earth**

**CNE Members: **USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Canada, Australia, Japan

**Main CNE Facilities:** SGC (USA), Ice Station R&D (Canada), Gov. Contract Manufacturing (Germany) Gov. Contract Supply (France), Planetary Defence Network Command (Japan), Military Power Generation Facilities (China), Planetary Defence Fighter Squadrons (Russia), Eden Spaceport (Australia), Capitol Building + Political heart (Great Britain)

* * *

**Chapter 32: Endings and Beginnings**

**BBC**

"In a shocking turn of events Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all voted today on one of the most controversial proposals of the European Union. By 537 to 113 Parliament has chosen to accept the creation of a European Army."

"As most of Europe knows Great Britain has been the most powerful sceptic within the Union with many feeling that we should leave entirely. Since the Second Falkland's War however attitudes have shifted dramatically with many willing to cede even more powers to Brussels if it means that the government can more effectively kick the Americans in the balls."

"With the major roadblock to further integration removed the European Union is expected to have a joint military command based in Brussels within two months, the First European Army, Navy and Airforce will be established one month after that. For now they will be made up of troops and equipment from Great Britain, France and Germany though talks are reportedly ongoing with the other member nations."

* * *

**CNN**

"The leaders of Europe continue in their mad quest to completely obliterate their own countries and form a single superstate. Today it has been announced that Great Britain, France and Germany are officially releasing all of their classified military technology and provide it at cost to other member nations as they place their militaries under the new European Military Command in Brussels."

"The Pentagon has declared that they will no longer sell any military advances to Europe or issue contracts to any US company that does so. The New York Stock Exchange has closed down 34 points and unemployment in states that depend on the arms industry is expected to rise sharply."

* * *

**BBC**

"In a matter of great national pride the British _Challenger_ tank has been named the main armour unit of the new European Army along with the new _Queen Elizabeth _class carries being named as the standard for the new European Navy. The _Eurofighter Typhoon _is to set the standard for the new European Airforce."

"Today it was announced that in return for being able to buy the new standard equipment at cost levels Spain, Italy and Poland will completely update their militaries and place them at the disposal of the European Military Command. For now the new countries armed forces are to form the reserve army and will be integrated with the main army as their training and equipment is improved over the next year. The Three Great Powers are reportedly taking the new military very seriously and will make sure that any new member militaries are equipped and trained to the highest standards."

"The London Stock Exchange closed another 16 points up today and shares in BAE systems and other European arms manufacturers continued to rise due to the US embargo on military technology to Europe. BAE has announced that it is opening an new arms factory in Birmingham that is expected to significantly reduce unemployment in the city."

* * *

**CNN**

"BAE Systems has had all of its American subsidiary companies confiscated today in a move that many members of congress feel is overdue. The sentiment is going to give little comfort to the workers of the affected companies who now have to wait to see who will buy them. The provision of compensation to BAE systems has caused outrage in some quarters but with the deteriorating diplomatic situation many see it as necessary. Whether it will stop the entire situation ploughing into the ground remains to be seen."

* * *

**BBC**

"Breaking news! Today the power of Europe increased dramatically with the appointment of the first President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. With Britain's withdrawal from the euro skeptics integration is galloping ahead faster than the horses at the grand national."

"With her recent narrow election defeat the still widely respected former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was tipped to be the first president. However with the occupation of the Third Reich still within living memory for much of continental Europe former chancellor Merkel herself refused the post stating that the purpose of the post was to bring the people of Europe together not tear them apart by opening wounds that have not quite healed."

"Due to the praiseworthy self sacrifice of former Chancellor Merkel it has been decided by unanimous vote of the member nations that the President of the European Council will be Harriet Jones. Currently the British Minister of Defence Miss Jones is expected to tenure her resignation later today and take up her new post on Monday. In recognition for her actions it was decided by unanimous vote that Angela Merkel will be the first EU High Representative for Foreign affairs."

In unrelated news the outsider Inglorious Bastards won the grand national today at odds of 45:1 The bookies are said to have lost an estimated £27 million.

* * *

**CNN**

"Betrayal! Today the new EU High Representative Angela Merkel met President Bartlett in Washington to pass on a message from President Jones. At the end of the month all EU member nations are withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan. President Jones is reported to have said that the nations of Europe are no longer willing to feed their men into the meat grinder in support of an American war when America is not prepared to do the same."

"In addition the American bases in Germany, in place since the end of the second world war are to be removed by the end of the month or a siege will be enacted against them stopping all supplies except water from entering the complex's. Britain and France have supported Germany's demand and Britain is expected to issue a similar demand shortly and a proposal to make membership of the EU and membership of NATO mutually exclusive is currently before the European Parliament."

* * *

**BBC**

"If anyone was in any doubt that the old world order had ended today should leave them in no doubt. BAE systems has today won a massive Chinese military contract worth several billion pounds, contracts for several other European arms firms are expected to follow over the next few weeks."

"The European Army announced today that it would participate in full scale war games with the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the spring in a show of international solidarity. Critics state that its more of a show of force to show the former soviet state that despite the withdrawal of all EU member states from NATO the EU is more than capable of defending itself conventionally.

"Britain and France's combined nuclear capability of 485 warheads though far below that of the US 9,400 is deduced to be more than sufficient to serve as the EU's nuclear deterrent as it is more than double the size of China's."

* * *

**CNN**

As the dust begins to settle the new world order looks increasingly fragile. The great powers of Russia, China and the vastly more integrated EU are now if not openly hostile to the US at least very wary of any US lead foreign policy. Many Americans who until now paid little to no attention to world affairs are suddenly thrust into the position of standing alone on the world stage having driven away all of our allies at least for now.

One thing is for certain, this will be a major factor at the mid term elections next month, at the moment political commentators are saying that it is looking increasingly unlikely that the democratic party can maintain control of the House. A democratic spokesperson replied that the republicans policies would have lead to open war not just isolation. What direction the US takes next will be decided next month.

* * *

**NOTE: This is the hight of the America bashing as the UK emotions are still running high in the story. They will settle down now though.**

**In real life Hillary Clinton has said that in this day and age it is unimaginable that Britain claims islands thousands of miles away as theirs. Has she ever heard of Hawaii?**

**Number of British troops in Afganistan - 10,000 Number of Argentinian troops in Afganistan - 0**

**Country the US is supporting over the Falkland Islands dispute? - Argentina. THANKS FOR LEAVING US HIGH AND DRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**This is the end of Republic: Into the Fire. The sequel Republic: Enemy at the Gates will be up as soon as I get the time.**

**Let me know what you thought and any suggestions you may have!**


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